By Lisa M. Krieger
Celebrity orators are a routine feature of graduation ceremonies at Stanford, Santa Clara University and University of California campuses.
But this year, a local community college district trumps them all — landing America's top educational leader, U.S Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to be the speaker at commencement exercises on June 25 at Foothill College and June 26 at DeAnza College.
DeAnza president Brian Murphy wrote the Obama Administration seeking a graduation speaker, and hit a jackpot.
Many campuses make such an effort — and Duncan has spoken to several other schools this year, including the teacher-focused Lesley University in Boston, the small Catholic liberal arts-based St. Michael's College in Vermont and the major research institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But the selection of the community college district may have been influenced "by the work the Obama Administration is doing to call attention to the important role of community colleges," said Becky Bartindale, spokeswoman for the two-year college system. Also working in the District's favor is the diversity of its student body, she said.
Duncan's choice of the local colleges may have been swayed by former District chancellor Martha Kantor, who now serves as his Under Secretary of Education.
Duncan graduated with magna cum
laude honors at Harvard, then his career took twists and turns. He played pro basketball in Australia, ran a nonprofit