Commencement speaker chosen for Class of 2007

Amanda Melillo Editor in Chief

President Catharine Bond Hill has selected Terry Gross to be the commencement speaker for the Class of 2007, Vassar College’s 143rd graduating class. Gross hosts the talk show “Fresh Air” on National Public Radio (NPR) and is known for interviewing prominent public figures in politics, entertainment, the arts, sciences and business.

Deemed a “national treasure” by Salon’s David Talbot in a Sept. 2004 interview, Gross has conducted more than 10,000 interviews since her radio show was first broadcast in 1975. She is noted for her on-air ability to move her guests to speak with candor, and describes her interviews as having “ranged from Bill Clinton to John Travolta.” She won a Peabody Award in 1994 for excellence in radio broadcast and published a collection of interviews in her 2004 book All I Did Was Ask.

Senior Class President Ian Patrick was pleased with the choice. “She is probing but respectful, has humility but a sense of intelligence, maintains her sense of gentility—her show seems to be a model for how talk show interviews should be.”

Assistant to the President John Feroe explained, “She’s someone who, for the last thirty years, has interacted with the political and cultural life of the country in a deep way. She’s of the parent’s generation in some sense, students have grown up with her in some sense, and she is the perfect person to speak to the audience.”

Senior Class Vice President Bari Turetsky noted that many seniors requested a female speaker, as most speakers in recent years have been male. She also referred to Gross as a “people’s choice,” stating, “She was a popular suggestion; she came up a lot and was in high demand. She was really representative of what people in the class wanted.”