Senior Speaker Application
A Commencement tradition, the senior class speaker is chosen to reflect on the graduating class experience and represents the very best of Purchase College.
The Selection Process
Senior speaker applications are due on Monday, March 25, 2024 by noon.
Finalists need to be available on Monday, April 1, 2024 from 12:00 - 2:00pm to meet with the committee. Finalists will be asked to read a draft of their submitted commencement speech.
If you have any questions regarding the application or the process, please contact mary.garcia@purchase.edu.
What Works Well
Talk about your experience being a student at Purchase. What clubs and activities have you been part of at Purchase and how that has helped to form you? The best speeches show transformation and growth: Did you, for example, come here as a commuter anticipating you’d just take your classes and go back home only to find you started contributing to The Purchase Phoenix, then became an intern, then the editor in chief in your senior year and now have a job lined up at The New York Times upon graduation? What about your interactions with others at Purchase–students, faculty and staff: how have your encounters with others shaped you? What do you imagine Purchase graduates contribute to the larger world?
What to Avoid
A speech that is too personal and that neglects the fact that you are addressing the entire senior class, not to mention faculty, staff, administrators and invited guests. On the other hand, avoid a generic speech that could apply to any or all college graduations—this should be a speech that could only be written by a Purchase student and only delivered to a Purchase audience. Avoid clichés (dreams becoming a reality, the over-used campus motto “Think wide open.”) Avoid being too funny (this is not the time for you to practice your stand-up routine). Avoid personal ideological speeches around political or moral views.
What to Remember
This speech will be heard by family and friends of all the graduates and should be one that will be appreciated and remembered by all. Please provide references and experiences that go beyond the individual schools, board of educations, majors, etc.