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Commencement Speakers Chosen

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Glotzbach dropped some serious commencement knowledge this morning when he revealed this year’s graduation speakers. On the May 16th ceremony Skidmore will confer honorary degrees to Carter F. Bales, Kati Marton and Fred Wilson. Names not ringing any bells? Read on homie.

Each of these esteemed guests, along with Janet Lucas Whitman ‘59, chair of the board of trustees; Ray Sultan, president of the Class of 2009 and Glotzbach himself will briefly address the crowd at SPAC.
In his memo Glotzbach gave a brief bio of each of the speakers which I’ve graciously included below.

Carter F. Bales, managing partner emeritus and co-founder, The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC, a private equity firm, as well as community activist for numerous environmental, conservation, cultural and performing arts, and charitable organizations and foundations.

Kati Marton, author and journalist, including reporting for ABC News and National Public Radio, international human rights advocate and former chairwoman of the International Women’s Health Coalition.

Fred Wilson, artist and Luce Distinguished Visiting Fellow for the Program in Object Exhibition and Knowledge at Skidmore’s Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, serving from 2004–06 as a catalyst for faculty engagement with museums.

There you have it folks, Commencement ’09. For more information you can check out (forward to your parents) the handy dandy Commencement 2009 page on the Skidmore homepage.

SYRA: Rich Lowry for Skidmore

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Following such memorable speakers as Harvey Mansfield, who spoke about “Manliness,” and John Ashcroft, the only person on campus to ever confuse Barack Obama for Osama bin Laden, the Skidmore Young Republican Assembly (yeah…they’re a thing) will present this year’s first speaker, Richard Lowry, this Wednesday.

Don’t know Dick? Well, he has been the editor of “America’s most widely read and influential magazine and web site for Republican/conservative news, commentary, and opinion,” the National Review, since 1997. As a frequent guest on Fox News, as well as author of an Anti-Clinton book Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years, it should be no surprise when Lowry states his endorsement of McCain, nevermind his support for waterboarding. Keep in mind, this guy is famous. No big deal, but he is currently ranked as Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World.”

Show up prepared to hear some genuine, “out-of-the-box” conservative agenda that your socially liberal mind hasn’t been exposed to since you’ve arrived back in our 900-acre “Obama bubble.” Rich Lowry will speak on Wednesday, Oct. 29, in Gannett Auditorium @ 8:30pm.

Hip Hop Culture Week Keynote Speaker Tonight

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Tonight Hip Hop Culture Week keynote speaker Kim Osorio presents “The Truth About Women and Hip Hop: Straight from the Source.” While im sure Osorio will talk about Foxy Brown being legit fucking crazy and how Lil’ Kim’s boobs are everywhere, the talk will probably focus mainly on Osorio’s ongoing lawsuit against Hip Hop magazine, and her former employer, The Source. Osorio was The Source’s first editor in chief and left the company after “alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, defamation, retaliatory discharge, and maintaining a hostile work environment.” The talk looks like it will be a treat for anyone interested in Hip Hop, the music industry and sexism in the work place. The talk is tonight at 7pm in Gannett, Q&A and book signing follow.

Delillo On Campus Tonight

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

As our crack team of corespondents previously reported, Don DeLillo will be giving the annual Steloff Lecture here on campus. DeLillo will be reading fiction, fielding questions and signing books this very evening in Gannett at 8pm. DeLillo has been hailed as one of the greatest writers of our time, with The New York Review of Books calling him “one of the most original, intelligent, and visionary novelists now writing in America.” Skidmore’s annual Steloff Lecture was established in 1967 by Frances Steloff, a native of Saratoga Springs who became a well-known patron of writers and founded the Gotham Book Mart in New York City. She endowed the series as a way to bring outstanding literary and artistic talent to the college. Previous Steloff speakers include Nadine Gordimer, Seamus Heaney, J.M. Coetzee, Saul Bellow, Mario Vargas Llosa, Katharine Anne Porter, Louise Gluck, Chinua Achebe, Susan Sontag, and Arthur Miller.

Sustainable Skidmore Keynote Speaker

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

Tomorrow night a joint venture between Sustainable Skidmore and the Environmental Studies Dept. brings environmental scholar and Santa Claus impersonator Tom Wessels to campus. Tom Wessels is an ecologist and founder of the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch University. Among Wessels’ other impressively green resume points are his published works, the most recent of which, The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future, will be the focus of his talk. The Myth of Progress, according to some Amazon reviews, exposes that out current systems for achieving sustainability are pretty much wrong and that a pretty drastic overhaul of our goals is in order. Wessels’ suggestions become ever more pertinent thanks to the recent economic suicide and the obvious fact that budgets, and particularly environmental budgets, are going to take a major hit. Wessels will begin his talk Monday at 7pm in Gannett and follow it up with a “dessert reception” with questions and the opportunity to speak with him and the school’s environmental players.

Delillo to Offer Some Mid-Semester White Noise

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Heavy hitting postmodern novelist Don Delillo is scheduled to speak on campus October 14th at 8pm thanks to the Frances Steloff lecture series. Delillo is a fantatstic novelist, (we hope) a great speaker, and someone we should be thankful to have come speak with us. Delillo is hopefully the first in a series of broadly appealing, interesting, and intelligent speakers coming to campus this year.