Rumors among students that Jon Huntsman, Jr. was an alternate choice for the commencement speaker are untrue, according to University Secretary Leslie Kruhly.
“Ambassador Huntsman was our first choice for this year,” she confirmed, countering theories that other options fell through.
Huntsman, who received his bachelor’s degree from Penn in 1987, was a timely first choice, Kruhly explained, because he was named ambassador to China within the last year.
“He can offer a unique perspective on the issues facing our nation during these critical times,” Penn President Amy Gutmann wrote in a statement.
Student involvement in the selection process comes primarily from representation on the University Council Committee on Honorary Degrees and the Speaker Advisory Group, Kruhly said.
Among the student participants each year are the Undergraduate Assembly chairman, the senior class president and vice president and the chairman of the United Minorities Council. Suggestions from these committees are then considered by the Trustees Committee on Honorary Degrees, which does not include students.
If a first-choice speaker is unavailable, then “clearly we have to go on the next choice,” Kruhly explained. But instead of a ranking, she emphasized, speakers are selected from a “pool,” which changes every year based on suggestions and current events.
Speakers have fallen through in the past, she confirmed, noting that the last time this happened was more than a decade ago.
Still, many students are lukewarm about Huntsman’s upcoming commencement speech.
“Just because he seems to be a big name at Penn, he doesn’t necessarily have a big name in the rest of the world, especially when you hear about other schools getting Obama,” College senior Katie Poulos said.
“It seems like Penn has to be nice to his family because they’ve given so much money to the school, not because he’d be a good speaker,” said College senior Melinda Snover, who suggested most people were disappointed with the choice.
Huntsman may be a familiar name around campus, but the fact that “Ambassador Huntsman knows and loves Penn” is an “added plus,” according to Gutmann.
Other students are more enthusiastic about the selection.
College senior and former Penn College Republicans President Zac Byer said that he disagreed that Huntsman should be considered a “low man on the totem pole” of speaker choices.
“I think that he is a rising leader nationally and internationally,” Byer said.
