Booking Bill Behind the Scenes Trustees dream big, court top choice speaker

Author: Ben Salkowe

Less than a day after students learned of Former President Bill Clinton's commitment to deliver the 2007 commencement address, rumors were flying as to how it happened. Some speculated there was a cozy golf match between Clinton and College trustees at a posh country club. Others thought there had to be a hefty speaker's fee that the College had committed to pay.

"We were joking that they probably used the money they saved on our Commencement speaker," said Hillary Johnson '02, co-president of the Boston Middlebury Alumni Association. Johnson said her class came after the legendary Mister Rogers speech but before a string of high-profile speakers from 2003-2005 that included Bill Richardson, Christopher and Dana Reeves, and Rudolph Giuliani. Johnson's speaker was science writer Dava Sobel.

But it was not money that sealed the deal with Clinton.

"We do not pay [commencement] speakers or give an honorarium," said Secretary of the College John Emerson. "In some instances in the past we have made a charitable contribution to a related charity, that is the exception."

Emerson said he was not aware of any such charitable contribution arrangement made in recruiting Clinton.

Likewise, it also was not the nomination or work of the Honorary Degree Committee - as some Vermont media incorrectly reported - that led to Clinton's selection. Members of the Committee, which is officially responsible for submitting a short list of potential commencement speakers to President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and the Board of Trustees, said they did not include Clinton on either of the two short lists they created. Not because they did not want him, but because they thought he was out of their reach.

"He was mentioned," said Sarah Shaikh '07.5, one of two students sitting on the Honorary Degree Committee. "But we knew he had a huge speaker fee and we did not think we had any direct connections."

"They put a strong emphasis on us finding someone who was connected to the College community," said ReNard Rogers '07, the other student on the Committee, referring to the guidelines they were given by College administrators. Completely unknown to the students on the Committee, while they drafted a list of potential commencement speakers, the Board of Trustees had their own speaker in mind.

The process of recruiting a 2006 commencement had been a rough one. None of the students or administrators with knowledge of last year's search would comment openly about what went wrong, but several confirmed that the College had held out too long to get an answer from its first choice: a certain celebrity fake news anchor with a show that airs daily. By the time the negotiations were fully exhausted, the clock was running out, which led to the late selection of Former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to address the class of 2006 - a choice that faced loud criticism from students and faculty.

So for 2007, the Board of Trustees decided to start early and think big. Bill Clinton was the name proposed, and unlikely as it seemed, the Board committed to recruiting the 42nd president. To leave time in case Clinton declined the offer, Liebowitz said there was a mid-December deadline to the effort.

Of course this all leads up to the one rumor that has yet to be disproved - that one of Middlebury's trustees called a casual golf match with the former President, told some charming stories about Middlebury students in Vermont and Clinton was persuaded to grant Middlebury a free commencement address.

Those involved said it was more complicated than just one meeting, but every College administrator contacted for this article declined to reveal the College trustee (or trustees) who met with Clinton, and where or when they may have discussed the idea. The one aspect of the discussions that is known is Middlebury's connection to Clinton, a connection that the Honorary Degree Committee did not know about: Andrew Friendly '91.

After skiing down the Snow Bowl at his February graduation in 1991, Friendly had driven to New Hampshire where he began working on the Clinton campaign. When the Arkansas governor won the Presidency, Friendly became Clinton's personal aide. He later worked as Clinton's trip director - he recalls only one trip to Vermont for a national governors' meeting in Burlington - before he finally switched over to working on Latin American policy.

Friendly was not the major player in recruiting Clinton, as he told The Campus he was only "tangentially involved," but he contacted people in the President's office and lobbied those he knew to secure the commitment as the effort reached its self-imposed deadline just before the winter break.

The campus reaction

Students on the Honorary Degree Committee said that they did not know Clinton had been selected until just days before news broke to the entire campus.

"I was stunned," said Rogers. "At first we were really against having a politician speak because it divides people, but there's something about having a President, having an international figure, that's different."

The Committee had been shying away from politicians, in favor of several well-known humanitarians who topped their shortlists. But Shaikh noted that, in many ways, Clinton has become more of a humanitarian than a politician in his post-presidency, making him fit well with what they were seeking in a commencement speaker.

"The Committee was very, very elated when they got the news," said Emerson. "That was unanimous."

Likewise, students across campus were also, at least nearly unanimously, elated. The most common complaints were from those not graduating this year - juniors afraid they would never find something comparable for their commencement, and recent alumni who joked they graduated a year or two too early.

But in an open letter to the Board of Trustees, one member of the College community openly criticized Clinton's selection. Jim Cowperthwait, a '94 and '97 Middlebury parent and former head of the Middlebury College Parents' Fund, wrote in his letter that the choice to invite Clinton and grant him an honorary degree sent the wrong message about the College to students and the world.

"If celebrity is the key to memorability, then President Clinton is a good choice," wrote Jim Cowperthwait, who admitted that he could not remember either of his children's commencement speakers, in an e-mail to The Campus. "My criteria would be somewhat different, and they would preclude inviting and honoring a perjurer and an impeached politician."

Several days before news of Clinton's commitment became public, Liebowitz acknowledged that there could be some dissatisfaction with the choice, but everyone involved in the selection said the opportunity was too good to pass up, and pointed to the successes of the Clinton presidency and his work since.

"I think you need to take the President as a whole," said Friendly. "Certainly people will judge him for those mistakes, but he's also dedicated himself to making the world a better place."

Johnson, who described her political views as "very moderate," said she supported the choice of Clinton just as she supported the choice of Giuliani two years ago.

"This is not the first time that people have complained about a [commencement] speaker," said Johnson. "But they're not looking at all that the person has done."

But Cowperthwait wrote that he would no longer actively support the College.

"I won't be contributing to Middlebury any more," wrote Cowperthwait. "I think Middlebury is one of the best colleges in America. But I have to conclude that Middlebury no longer stands for what I believe in."

Shaikh said that students had lived the Clinton presidency and saw him beyond his mistakes.

"We all grew up with the news media coverage of Clinton and Monica Lewins
ky," said Shaikh. "Most people have moved past that. Students are really excited about [Clinton] and that's the most important thing.

A 'coup' for the College

In the short run, Clinton's visit means Commencement planners have a lot of work to do and, perhaps, revisions to consider for the College's traditional commencement format. A visit by a former American President presents the dual challenges of meeting the security protocols mandated by the Secret Service, while managing unusually high interest and a large turnout by members of the greater College community.

"The visit by Chief Justice Roberts last October gives us some experience in dealing with federal security officers," said Emerson.

The College has yet to begin discussing protocols with Clinton's office or the Secret Service, but Emerson said the administration was in the process of researching and collecting input from other colleges and universities that have hosted U.S. Presidents.

"One of our highest priorities is to make the event as nice as possible for all of our graduating seniors and their guests," said Emerson. "My guess is that something we're going to have to do differently from years past is have controlled access through tickets."

Since the College began holding commencement ceremonies outdoor rain or shine there has not been a cap on the number of guests that graduating seniors could invite.

"I think it will be a pretty generous limit," said Emerson. "We want to be able to accommodate as many people as we can. That's our biggest priority: to assure that the notoriety of President Clinton doesn't detract from the day."

In the long run, Clinton's visit - which Middlebury historians David Bain and David Stameshkin both believe will be the first ever visit by a U.S. President to the campus - could go a long way in expanding the College's international prominence.

"It's a coup for Middlebury," said Friendly. "What it really will do is raise Middlebury's profile."

Johnson noted that the publicity also raises the name recognition of the College. After news of Clinton's commitment was first reported in The Campus on Jan. 10, the story was soon running on Vermont. national and international news media.

But beyond raising the College's profile, members of the Class of 2007 and their guests will be among less than a dozen commencement audiences to have been addressed by the 42nd president since he left office over six years ago. And, at least for a while, they could be among the last.

"Now with his wife running for president, he probably won't do many more," said Friendly, just after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) announced her candidacy for 2008 over the weekend. Friendly noted that during the campaign, commencement addresses by former President Clinton could be considered political speeches for his wife.

So far Clinton has made only two other speaking commitments for 2007 commencement ceremonies, one at the University of Michigan on April 28, and the other at Knox College in Illinois, on June 2.

What he might say

The big question now - one that may only be answered in May - is just what President Clinton will say to graduating seniors. If his past addresses provide any indication, the speech will be closely tailored to the experiences of Middlebury graduates, and to the challenges they face on their commencement.

Speaking at the American University in Dubai in 2002, Clinton emphasized the immediate importance of peace in the Middle East, and between India and Pakistan. Speaking at Tougaloo College in 2003, Clinton challenged graduates to defeat poverty, ignorance, discrimination and hatred through service to one another. And speaking just last year to graduates at Tulane University, the former President recognized the struggles of rebuilding in the wake of Hurricaine Katrina and other tragedies around the world.

While Middlebury may not have such a clear, defining political event at its core, those who know Clinton, and those who know Middlebury, all suggested his remarks would focus on one big idea: being responsible leaders in a global community.

"Middlebury's focus is on global issues and challenges, and that's Clinton's claim to fame - being an international ambassador," said Johnson. She said she expected the former President to talk about "the importance of being a global thinker and a global doer, looking at problems and solutions without boundaries."

If Clinton does choose to discuss the global community, his 2003 address to Syracuse University graduates may provide the best indication of what he could say. The address, humbly titled "Why America Needs the World," was a mix of policy advocacy and personal reflection. In the speech, Clinton called for Americans to build partnerships between people and nations addressing common challenges.

"I think America should be just as determined to lead the world against the threat of infectious diseases, the threat of poverty and ignorance, the threat of global warming, as we are about leading the world against the threat of terrorism," Clinton told Syracuse graduates.

He closed by noting that throughout history, those who built together had succeeded.

"Every single time, since people first rose out of the African savannah a hundred thousand years ago, when it came down to it, the builders have prevailed," said Clinton. "The people who believed in our interdependence have prevailed, the people who believed in our common humanity have prevailed. I want you to use your education to make sure that in the 21st century, we prevail."