Chicago Mayor a 'Letdown,' Grads Moan

Some Northwestern University seniors are disappointed the “extremely well-known person” promised as graduation speaker is no one more significant than Richard Daley, Chicago’s mayor. Graduating students have called the revelation “lame” and a “letdown,” the Tribune reports; John McCain and Barack Obama were recent speakers. Speculation about this year’s grandee had run from Tony Blair to the Dalai Lama.

“If your goal in the speaker selection process was to make graduating seniors happy about leaving this university, then mission accomplished,” one angry senior wrote to the university president. Henry Bienen's response: “Grow up.” (More commencement speech stories.)