In late March, university officials announced that Catherine Bertini, a humanitarian and former United Nations official, will speak at Spring Commencement on May 29.
Bertini was chief executive of the United Nations World Food Programme for 10 years.
Throughout her years of humanitarian work, she has been credited with helping to end starvation in North Korea, Afghanistan and Northeastern Africa and organizing food distribution in the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. Bertini is currently a professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Senior Tim Bogart said he was looking forward to having more of a household name to speak at commencement.
"I was actually hoping we'd be able to score Biden for our speaker," Bogart said. "I'm a little disappointed."
He said he did not know who Bertini was when he heard of the university's decision.
"I guess she seems like she's done some interesting work with world hunger and stuff," Bogart said, "but I wouldn't have known that without looking her up on Google."
Ralph Begleiter, director of the Center for Political Communication at the university, nominated Bertini to the committee responsible for choosing the commencement speaker.
Begleiter said he initially chose Bertini because of her philanthropic background. He said the choice for her to speak can easily be tied into the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti and the humanitarian efforts there.
"I know students at the University of Delaware are interested in and engaged in humanitarian efforts, and I thought Catherine Bertini is someone that students would find inspiring," Begleiter said.
Senior Val Mekhanik said after he looked up Bertini's name he was impressed with her credentials but was anticipating a different kind of individual.
"I don't know why she's going to be up there speaking to us," Mekhanik said. "We're a young class and we're going to have our own challenges. I was just hoping for someone a little more relevant."
He said he felt the administration's choice was more about making and keeping educational and professional relationships than presenting the students with a well-known individual as the commencement speaker.
"This is about making our school look good — it's something way above our heads that none of us are expected to understand," Mekhanik said.
Bogart said while he was hoping for a speaker with more celebrity appeal, he understands the choice that was made.
"You can't expect to get like a huge celebrity every time," he said, "so I mean, it's not like a bad decision by picking someone who's a leader in relieving world hunger."
The last two Spring Commencement speakers were baseball player Cal Ripkin and author and columnist Thomas Friedman.
Begleiter said he is aware that Bertini's name is unknown to most university students.
"A lot of people's names are unknown to our students," he said. "I think it's important to find someone that students can identify with — perhaps especially for women — but her accomplishments are something all students will find inspiring. I think she'll deliver a powerful message on Commencement Day."
Senior Vanessa Perez said she hopes she can take something away from Bertini's message because for her, the whole commencement ceremony is something she wants to remember.
"I think any graduation ceremony is pretty important because that's the one time everyone is together before they all split up," she said, "but graduating from college is a big accomplishment, so it'd be nice to have someone speak that you knew of or you felt you could really relate to."
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