published on 03/05/08

Web update: 2008 Commencement Speaker Announced

Brian Farkas News Editor

Randy Cohen, New York Times columnist and Emmy Award winner will be the 2008 Commencement speaker.

“I think he'll be a wonderful speaker since his work has significantly raised awareness and sensitivity regarding issues of ethics in everyday life, and he is a creative and entertaining writer,” said Vassar President Catharine Bond Hill in an e-mailed statement. “He will add to both the sense of responsibility and celebration that are very much a part of the atmosphere of Commencement.”

Best known for his New York Times Sunday Magazine column “The Ethicist,” Cohen is the recipient of four Emmy awards, three of which were for work with the Late Night with David Letterman show.

Cohen is also an ethics columnist for the Times of London and has recently published The Good, the Bad and the Difference, a book based upon his column. He is also a regular contributor to Weekend All Things Considered on National Public Radio.

Cohen began his career writing humor pieces, essays, and stories for newspapers and magazines including The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, and Young Love Comics. These pieces were published in the collection Diary of a Flying Man in 1989.

“The choice of the Commencement speaker was made with the input and collaboration of the senior class officers,” said Assistant to the President John Feroe in an e-mailed statement. The four senior class officers, in conjunction with the President’s Office, have been working for several months to select a speaker.

Past commencement speakers at Vassar have included Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and William Schulz.

“I’m so pleased with this choice,” said Class of 2008 President Colin Sanders. “We worked closely with the President’s Office to try and come up with a range of personalities that would have worthwhile things to say and to hear. Randy seemed to be the perfect fit. Not only is his column brilliant, but in having written for David Letterman as well, I think he’ll be both entertaining and thought provoking.”

Image Credit: wnyc.org

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