Harvard scored Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling for a Commencement speaker, and Princeton roped in Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert for its 2008 Senior Class Day.
With graduation less than a semester away, students are wondering: Who will command Franklin Field at Commencement?
The name of Penn's Commencement speaker - along with the other honorary degree recipients - will be released in mid-February, according to University Secretary Leslie Kruhly.
She confirmed that rumors circulating around campus yesterday that renowned chef Emeril Lagasse would be this year's Commencement speaker were false.
"It is not [Lagasse]," Kruhly said. "I have no idea how that rumor started."
The real speaker, although not yet announced, was actually chosen "a number of months ago" according to Kruhly.
"We try not to announce who it is too early as it loses some of its timeliness and news interest," she added. "Sometimes we are able to commit far in advance and other times we are not."
But regardless of when the decision is made, the names are typically not released until mid-February.
The Speaker Advisory Committee - a group composed of undergraduate student leaders, graduates from the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and pertinent faculty members - recommends names of potential speakers to the University Council Committee very early on in the process.
UA Chairman Jason Karsh, who sits on this Speaker Advisory Committee, said he could not provide any of the names that student leaders suggested for this year.
"It's tough to comment about speakers because we don't know who is on the shortlist," said Wharton senior and class president Puneet Singh, who also sits on the Speaker Advisory Committee.
Singh added that the 2008 Class Board would like to see someone who is "very influential in their industry," someone who has made an "outstanding contribution to society" and someone who is "very relevant and exciting for students to listen to."
"Penn, being a premier institution, has the leverage to pull a speaker like that," he said.
But earlier Commencement announcements from peer institutions - Harvard announced Rowling as its speaker on Jan. 17 and Princeton announced Colbert last December - may have caused the rumor about Lagasse to spread.
In an e-mail shared amongst many students, a fake commencement flyer advertised renowned chef Lagasse as the speaker for the graduation ceremony.
The rumor was then passed on to IvyGate, a student-run blog about the Ivy League, and reported as fact on their Web site.
Students interviewed said the announcement looked fake.
"It definitely seemed like a joke," College senior Amy Garlock said.
