One of Columbia University's most famous undergraduates, President Barack Obama, has just been confirmed as the keynote speaker at Barnard College's commencement on May 14. According to Barnard, "He will address approximately 600 members of the Class of 2012 and receive the Barnard Medal of Distinction, the College’s highest honor. The speech will be broadcast live on www.barnard.edu." Suddenly, Columbia College students are more "WTF John MacArthur?"
Barnard President Debora L. Spar said, "This is an extraordinary honor for Barnard, and we are thrilled to welcome President Obama for this important moment in the lives of our graduates and their families His commitment to empowering women is so meaningful to our students, who aspire to lead and make their mark on the world. No doubt, the President's words will make this year's Commencement truly unforgettable." And University President Lee C. Bollinger said, "All of us can be proud that President Obama, the first Columbia graduate to serve in the nation's highest office, has chosen to honor the importance of women's leadership by returning to campus at our historic sister liberal arts college for women in New York." Obama has remained pretty quiet about his undergraduate years at Columbia (he transferred to Columbia after initially attended Occidental College), but that hasn't stopped Columbia College students from trying to get him to speak at their Class Day festivities, because that would be something more amazing than Jack from Lost speaking. One Bwog commenter complained, "Barnard gets the best speakers every year! Hilary, Streep, Sandberg, now Obama."
Intriguingly, the earlier announced keynote speaker was Jill Abramson, executive editor of The New York Times, but now she's being bumped (she says she's "happy to speak at Barnard at a later date"). Obviously, Obama, who has two daughters, is making a play for female voters—he did give a pep talk to the Georgetown Law student who was deemed a "slut" by Rush Limbaugh and recently made the point, "Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health."
