Nobel Laureate to speak at Commencement

Some students expressed surprise at Penn's choice of Heaney as speaker. Yesterday's announcement that Irish poet Seamus Heaney will deliver this year's Commencement address met with mixed reactions from the University community. The choice of Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, is something of a departure from previous years, in which political figures and celebrities have been typical choices. And while English students and faculty members praised the selection, the greater University community expressed surprise or apathy with regards to the choice. English Professor Al Filreis, the faculty director of the Kelly Writers House, commented on Heaney's international renown. "Seamus Heaney is one of the two or three most important living poets writing in the English language today," Filreis said. "This is a huge coup." "That's great," said Ann Gallagher, a College senior and English major. "It gets me excited to go to graduation." And College senior Jen McKenna, another English major, said she was especially pleased with the selection. "It's nice that they're choosing someone from the liberal arts side of Penn," she said. However, many seniors expressed disappointment that they will not be addressed by a political leader at their graduation. "I prefer it to be someone more like Robert Rubin," Wharton senior Benjamin Shoval said, referring to the former Treasury secretary who spoke at last year's Commencement. "I guess it's nice," Engineering senior Matthew Morrow said, "but it's kind of far from my studies." Gallagher, however, pointed out that some of the most noteworthy speakers are not always the best. In fact, many of the big-name guests of the past have been criticized for delivering uninteresting speeches at graduation. "Fame does not necessarily make a good speaker," she said. But Morrow noted many students might not even know who Heaney is, due to his lack of mainstream fame. "I wish it was someone with more name recognition," he said. "A lot of students might not be able to relate to him." Still, English Professor Bob Perelman did not foresee any problems with Heaney's name recognition. "He's not a $250,000 question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he's a $1,000 question," Perelman said. "If Penn students don't know him, I'd be surprised."

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