Vice President Joe Biden will give the commencement address to the Syracuse University graduating class of 2009. The joint ceremony with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will take place May 10 in the Carrier Dome.

Biden, a 1968 alumnus of SU’s College of Law, gave the keynote address for the SU Law Commencement in 1994, 2002 and 2006. He delivered the keynote speech at the College of Law’s Centennial Celebration in 1995.

‘I’m just thrilled,’ Chancellor Nancy Cantor said by phone Wednesday night. ‘He’s an extraordinary public servant and it’s a wonderful thing for us here.’

Since 1965, no sitting vice president has given the commencement speech at SU. Hubert Humphrey spoke at commencement that year. No active president has ever delivered an SU commencement speech.

Cantor said she’s had many conversations with the vice president’s office and with Biden himself in the course of securing the logistics for the event.

‘It’s a true honor to be invited back to Syracuse University,’ Biden said in a news release. ‘The University and entire Syracuse community have meant so much to me in my life, and I look forward to being a part of the Orange’s 2009 graduation festivities.’

Biden received the SU Chancellor’s Medal in 1980, the SU Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and SU’s highest alumni award – the George Arents Pioneer Medal – in 2005. He will be presented with an honorary degree at this year’s commencement.

Cantor and the selection committee picked Biden after a committee of class marshals submitted a list of 40 names in November.

‘They were almost discouraging us from putting him on the list, saying he’d probably be too busy to get,’ said Carissa Matthews, a senior public relations major and class marshal.

Matthews said that despite the warnings, Biden was an obvious candidate to put on the list because of his connection to SU and the excitement of the election season, which coincided with selection committee meetings.

The selection committee is composed of class marshals, marshals from each of the schools and colleges, and three student representatives to the Board of Trustees. They compile a list of names in the fall based on suggestions faculty, staff and students posts on the commencement Web site.

Brian Spendley, senior biomechanical engineering major and the other senior class marshal, said the news was both exciting and a relief.

‘I think everybody’s just completely shocked and excited,’ Spendley said. ‘We were getting a little nervous that (Cantor) wasn’t going to find anyone, so to find out it’s the vice president of the United States, I think that’s pretty incredible.’

‘The vice president has been a true alum of the college and the university,’ said Hannah Arterian, dean of the College of Law, in an e-mail. ‘It is certainly big news that he will speak here during his first ‘commencement season’ as vice president. He has been back to campus a number of times in recent years and I think it says a great deal about his affection and respect for our university for him to come back now.’

Before becoming the 47th vice president of the United States, Biden represented the state of Delaware for seven terms as senator. He served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years. He has played a primary role in shaping U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Europe, as well as worked on issues relating to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, according to the White House Web site.

Biden grew up in New Castle County, Del., and graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, before coming to SU.

‘I think it’s a wonderful sign for Syracuse,’ Cantor said. ‘Biden is a person who has tremendous loyalty to the institution and is going on to do amazing things, and we expect that of our students.’

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm