Commencement speaker seems like good choice
Gov. Mitch Daniels will address the 2010 Franklin College graduating class on May 22 and that’s something students should take pride in.
It is not every day that Franklin College gets a chance to bring the sitting governor to speak at the college. There is a chance the sitting governor has never spoken at a Franklin commencement ceremony.
He’s a good choice to speak because he fits the college’s ideals: leadership, excellence and service. He has served in several leadership roles, including one as a vice president of Eli Lilly. He has also taken the hard steps that are sometimes required in order to run the state in the most effective way.
Daniels is a very smart man, too. He got his undergraduate degree from Princeton University before getting his law degree from Georgetown University.
Regardless of the students’ political affiliation, Daniels will provide an enlightening speech for the soon-to-be-graduates.
The pick for a commencement speaker does leave a few question marks, though.
Daniels announced reductions of $300 million in K-12 spending last December. These cuts – which would remain in effect until June 2011 – have been declared a “last resort” by Daniels.
But one of Franklin College’s most popular departments is education. Daniels surely will not have many friends among those students.
The topic of Daniels’ speech is unknown at this time, but it remains questionable if he will even address the economic situation for education majors.
Once Daniels won his second election for governor, he promised voters that would be the last political office he held. As the months have progressed, speculation has come up that Daniels wants to make a run for the presidency in 2012.
Daniels has made many public appearances and discussed national issues such as health care and the current deficit.
Franklin is bringing a speaker with a potential to run for the presidency to deliver the commencement address to graduates ranging from 21- to 23-year-olds, who are a part of a key voting demographic. Could Daniels be trying to sway some of the youth vote for a presidential bid?
As previously mentioned, the topic of Daniels’ speech is unknown. If he does address national issues or Washington politics at the ceremony, it could be considered a certainty he would run.
Despite the questionable portions of the commencement selection, the pick of Daniels is one the college will not regret.
