Speakers

Speakers Who Inspire

Hearing “Pomp and Circumstance” as you process to your seat is usually the first sign that you’re not dreaming...your graduation day has really arrived. Then our Commencement speakers help you survey your accomplishments and turn your thoughts toward the possibilities that lie ahead. Over the past three or four decades, it’s become customary for ceremonies to feature a special, advice-granting guest. At the Commencement ceremony, a selected student also takes the podium.

The guest and student Commencement speakers are announced in the spring.

Our Past Guest Speakers

Past guest speakers at Commencement have had strong connections with our state, our city, and our school. We’ve brought Indiana Fever WNBA star and children's advocate Tamika Catchings to the podium, as well as Sarah Evans Barker, the first female federal judge in Indiana.

Journalist and author A’Lelia Bundles, surrounded by faculty and staff, smiles as she puts on her commencement cap before speaking.

Our stage has been graced by award-winning journalist and author, A’Lelia Bundles (left), who wrote On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, about her great-great grandmother (the book that inspired the Netflix series “Self Made,” starring Octavia Spencer). And chemist and businessman John C. Lechleiter offered knowledge from his life experience as the president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company.

Student Speakers

One student speaker is given 3-5 minutes at the podium at the Commencement ceremony each year. This person is selected through an application and interview process conducted by a special committee that includes students, faculty, and staff. The interested student must write an essay about why they wish to speak, create an outline of the speech they would like to give, and supply other materials about themselves to be considered. They must have a strong academic track record and a history of being involved in campus activities.

The thoughtful and inspiring reflections of our student speakers rival that of our guest speakers each year. Take 2021’s student speaker Matthew Brown, for example, who shared his story of overcoming a childhood spent in juvenile detention centers and time in prison to earn his bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a minor in psychology at age 37.

Learn More About the Student Speaker Application Process

Speakers

Speakers Who Inspire

Our Past Guest Speakers

Student Speakers

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