Class Day

Class Day is like graduation, but not really (University Commencement, at which students are formally conferred their degrees, is held on a separate day). These celebrations, held for each of Columbia's schools, feature student speakers (usually class presidents and valedictorians or salutatorians, depending on the school) and keynote speakers (usually alumni), and an occasion for students to have their names called out, walk across the stage, and shake hands with the Dean and the president. Their existence forces students' parents to spend an extra day or two dealing with their children's commencement. The upshot is that the ceremonies are more intimate and personal. Both the Columbia College and SEAS ceremony includes a Parade of Classes.

Instead getting a diploma, undergraduate students receive a Class Pin from members of the 50th reunion class of that year.

History

The first class day for Columbia College was held in 1865.

The location of Class Days has shifted considerably over time, moving between indoor and outdoor locations. Columbia College Class Day was held in the University Gymnasium around 1907, on "the Green between Earl and Mines" in 1921, and in McMillan Theater in 1931. In 1938, Class Day was held on the Van Am Quadrangle. In 1943, ceremonies moved indoors again, to Brander Matthews Hall. Over the years, Class Day exercises have gradually migrated to South Lawn. However, Barnard's Class Days have often been held in Dodge Gym.

Although speeches have become the focal point of Class Day, in earlier years, prior to the establishment of the Academic Awards Ceremony, the focus was on distributing prizes. In 1941, for example, there were no designated speakers at Columbia College Class Day other than University President Butler, Dean Hawkes, and the valedictorian and salutatorian. In subsequent years a Senior Banquet was held on the same day, during which students would hear from an invited speaker, but the integrated Class Day speaker tradition did not begin until the later decades of the 20th century.

Speaker Complaints

Speakers at recent class days have stirred howls of complaint. Supposedly there is a rule the speaker must be an alumnus of their school, which accounts for Columbia's less famous speakers relative to our peer institutions. However, this rule has been ignored by CC when speakers such as novelist Ralph Ellison or Senator John McCain have agreed to speak, and does not apply to GS when the administration finds it convenient. Barnard does not have this rule.

In 1991, students circulated a petition hoping to disinvite 1968 protests leader Juan Gonzalez as speaker; Gonzalez spoke anyway. Among the complaints were that literally no one apart from the class president could identify who Gonzalez was when the choice was announced.

In 2006, Senator John McCain (whose daughter is CC '07) spoke, and some students expressed disapproval arguing that he did not represent the political beliefs of most CC students.

Matthew Fox, a star of TV's Lost, was the speaker for 2007, and was seen as an underwhelming or inappropriate choice for such a serious occasion, although his speech turned out well-received. These controversies generally involve petulant members of the senior class, who desire a meaningful close to their four year stint at the university, i.e. a charismatic intellectual celebrity.

In 2012, controversy was ignited again when President Barack Obama, a Columbia College alumnus, opted to speak at Barnard College's Class Day, despite entreaties from CC.

Class Day speakers

Undergraduate School Speakers

Year	Columbia College	SEAS	General Studies	Barnard College
2013	Terrence McNally '60CC	Robert Bakish '85SEAS, '89BUS	Nicholas Dirks	Leymah Gbowee
2012	John MacArthur '78CC	Ursula Burns '82SEAS	Thomas Reardon '08GS	Barack Obama '83CC
2011	Alexandra Wallace Creed '88CC	Ralph Izzo '79SEAS	Roger Leeds '66GS	Sheryl Sandberg
2010	Benjamin Jealous '94CC	Paul Brandt-Rauf '70, '74SEAS; '79P&S; '87PH	Jacques Pepin '70GS	Meryl Streep
2009	Eric Holder '73CC	James Albaugh '74SEAS M.S.	Philippe Reines '00GS	Hillary Clinton
2008	Joel Klein '67CC	Armen A. Avanessians '83SEAS M.S.	Alicia Graf '03GS	Michael Bloomberg
2007	Matthew C. Fox '89CC	Santiago Calatrava Parent '06, '07, '08, '09SEAS	Deborah Marshall, '79GS	Anna Deavere Smith
2006	John McCain Parent '07CC	Raymond P. Daddazio '75, '76, '82SEAS	Antonio Luis Freitas '97GS	Francine du Plessix Gray '52BC
2005	Robert Kraft '63CC	Mynoon Doro '73SEAS	Michael Margitich, '99GS
2004	Tony Kushner '78CC [2]	Savio Tung '73SEAS; Parent '01SEAS, '11B	Carlos Fedrigotti, '73GS
2003	George Stephanopoulos '82CC [3]	Michael Massimino '84SEAS [4]
2002	David J. Stern '66L [5]	Jeffrey Bleustein [6]
2001	David Boies	Russell Bassette	R. W. Apple, Jr '61GS
2000	Brian Dennehy '60CC	Peter Slosberg '72SEAS; '74B; Parent '04SEAS
1999	Claire Shipman '86CC	David E. Shaw
1998	Judge Joseph A. Greenaway '78CC	Norman R. Augustine		Joyce Purnick '67BC
1997	Jonathan Kozol	David Marks		Anna Quindlen '74BC
1996	Robert Rubin	Y.D. Kim	Joseph Califano
1995	Tom Brokaw	Samuel L. Higginbottom '43CC, '43SEAS		Madeleine Albright '68GSAS, '76SIPA
1994	Fritz Stern '46CC	Eleanor Baum		Sheila E. Widnall
1993		Anna K. Longobardo '49, '52SEAS
1992	Louis Harris	Lee-Un Chung
1991	Juan Gonzalez '98CC
1990	Ralph Ellison
1987	Anthony Lewis			Charles S. Robb
1982				Carol Bellamy

Trivia

• Part of James Russell's valedictory speech was delivered in ancient Armenian
• In 2010, the General Studies valedictorian, Brian Corman, plagiarized part of his speech from comedian Patton Oswalt
• In 1961, valedictorian John Vaio delivered the first Latin Valedictory at Columbia since 1901, while his classmates followed along with English translations.