Actor and comedian Bill Cosby will address graduating students as the keynote speaker at the Johns Hopkins undergraduate commencement on May 20, 2004. Cosby will also become one of the few entertainers in Johns Hopkins history to be awarded a Degree of Humane Letters.
Director of Student Involvement Jeffrey Groden-Thomas sent out an e-mail announcing Cosby's selection, through the Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell on Jan. 8 to the members of the senior class. According to Groden-Thomas, it took two or three months longer to finalize New York City Mayor and Hopkins alum, Michael Bloomberg, as a commencement speaker last year.
Cosby rose to fame in the early 1960's as a standup comic focusing his work on childhood and everyday situations.
In 1965, Cosby began his long television career on the TV show I Spy. Cosby earned the greatest amount of critical and popular praise from The Cosby Show running on NBC for eight years starting in 1984.
Cosby most recently starred in Cosby on CBS, with a four-year run starting in 1996. Cosby is also a best-selling author of the books Fatherhood, Time Flies, and Childhood.
But Cosby isn't only an entertainer -- he also has a strong background in education and in 1977 earned a PhD from the University of Massachusetts.
His comedic background first drew the attention of Student Council's senior row, after a senior class survey showed an interest in entertainers, said senior class president Simone Chen.
The survey singled out Conan O'Brien as the most popular choice, but he was unavailable for commencement.
Name recognition was also a key factor in the search for a commencement speaker.
"We wanted a different type of speaker than what we've had here previously at Hopkins," Chen said. "We wanted someone with name recognition, someone who would appeal to a larger audience."
With the 2004 election approaching, the senior class ruled against inviting politicians.
"We did not want them promoting their platform because of the upcoming 2004 elections," Chen said.
Faced with these limitations, the senior row began the process in early June to compete with other universities scrounging for speakers.
"The summer is the time when all the Universities are looking for potential speakers for graduation for the following year," said Chen.
The officers drafted a list of speakers, which was approved by Executive Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees Jerry Schnydman and Groden-Thomas.
Then, in early July, they sent out "interest letters" to the top five possible speakers, making it clear that Johns Hopkins does not award commencement speakers with an honorium.
"It is a really hard process searching for a graduation speaker here at Hopkins, because we are not allowed to extend an honorarium to invite speakers to come," Chen said. "It is difficult to get anyone to speak for free."
Cosby's agent responded, but said he wanted an honorary degree for Cosby -- a rare accolade for comedians.
"Honorary degrees are very rarely given out to entertainers here at Hopkins," said Chen, but the board of trustees approved Cosby for the Degree of Humane Letters in December on the basis of his educational background.
"Bill Cosby in some circles is only seen as an entertainer, but there is a recognition that he is more than an entertainer, he is an educator," Groden-Thomas said. "Although his education doesn't come out of a classroom, it is still evident that he provides that kind of forum through his entertainment, through his comedy and through his productions on television. He provides the opportunity for people to learn through his projects."
Within two weeks of the board's decision, Cosby confirmed his appearance ... two to three months earlier than the confirmation of Bloomberg last year.
"Last year we actually weren't able to nail down Mayor Bloomberg until second semester," said Groden-Thomas.
"I commend the senior class for how quickly they got through the process,"he continued.
The senior row is proud to bring what they called a "legend" to commencement.
"He has been such a legend in his time and he has affected such a wide audience: Not just us the students, but also our families. I've heard him speak at other public events and not only is he humorous but he's also very wise and well-spoken."
Staff writer Jessica Valdez contributed to this article.
