Though the jury is still out on President Larry Bacow's selection of the Omidyars as this year's commencement speakers, the Committee on Student Life has made it likely that the keynote speakers will not be buttressed by a rousing presentation from the undergraduate representative. Though Michael Ferenczy, this year's Wendell Phillips winner, is a fine candidate with an appropriate resume, several of the other candidates at yesterday's open session gave more impassioned deliveries. His selection from a pool of candidates with similar Tufts backgrounds is legitimate given the award's criteria, but does little to spice up an event that seniors have said has the potential to be a sleeper.
Ferenczy's final speech, given along with the final speeches of the other seven candidates, was written with enough emotion to bring a crowd of parents and friends to tears. Unfortunately, his delivery was both monotone and rapid. Ferenczy touchingly and honestly discussed a sensitive issue, making his selection a credible choice, but his oratory was noticeably less polished than most of the other speakers.
But while the CSL's selection is adequate for an award centered around education and service, the real disappointment was the similarity of the finalists. Of the eight, seven had served in student government during their Tufts careers. And more disappointing than the homogeneity of the group was the similitude of the speeches. Even the one non-government selection, Seren Levinson, took the same approach as the other candidates to the offered questions. With the topic being education, seven of the candidates related a personal story, and then told the audience how their postgraduate plans will change education problems in the world. Though there's nothing wrong with this approach, not one of the candidates tackled the questions with a sense of originality. Cliches, not novelty, marked the evening at Ballou.
Regardless, this year's speaker owns an impressive college resume - including chairing the TCUJ, serving as an RA, and working on cancer research at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. He also wrote an article for the controversial Primary Source this semester.
Now, with the responsibility of offering some of the final words seniors will hear before graduating college, Ferenczy will be best served taking a lesson from that publication - if his delivery can manage to stir up as many emotions as the Source, seniors will be treated to a pleasant surprise.
