Ravens Coach Billick to speak at graduation

Baltimore Ravens Coach Brian Billick has been chosen to deliver the keynote address to this year's graduating students at the Undergraduate Diploma Ceremony on May 17, 2007.

"I am thrilled that we will have Baltimore's very own Brian Billick as our commencement speaker," Senior Class President Ex Pow-anpongkul said. "Not only do I believe that he will deliver an inspirational speech to the Class of 2007, but the Hopkins community will be delighted to have him due to his successes in past years."

When last year's senior class could not guarantee a speaker to deliver the 2006 commencement address, University officials booked Elias Zerhouni, the director of the National Institutes of Health. According to the Director of Commencement India Lowres, this year's "senior class had an earlier start. When they began their search they were newly elected senior class officers but still juniors -- that has never been done before."

"We started, I believe, a week after we were elected -- sometime in May," Senior Class Vice President Samata Kamireddy said. "The `07 officers during the end of our junior year sent out an e-mail to the Class of `07 asking people to offer suggestions of who they'd like to have as a speaker. This list helped us create our list for the commencement office."

With the early start, the senior class officers were able to narrow down their selection of potential

speakers and submitted their choices to the Commencement Office ahead of schedule. The Commencement Office then sent out letters from both President Brody and the Senior Class President Pow-anpongkul to the prospective speaker.

According to Kamireddy, the senior class wanted a motivational and positive speaker. "Brian Billick, I think, is one of the best coaches out there," she said. "What do coaches do? They motivate; they inspire. [This is] exactly the kind of message we wanted to send to the class of '07."

However, many seniors have responded unenthusiastically to the announcement.

"I don't think he'd appeal to the student body here at Hopkins. We have a very driven and academic group of students here," explained senior Kane Kim.

"It's a stark contrast from Zerhouni but I don't know if what Billick has to say will resonate well with the class of 2007. I'm sure the class could have aimed higher," added Senior Victor Crentsil.

However, Crentsil also pointed out that the selection may be seen as an attempt by the senior class to bridge the often publicly criticized gap that exists between the University and the city. "It seems like a nice gesture to build that relationship between Hopkins and the rest of Baltimore, in some sort of indirect way," he remarked.

"I guess it's good for Hopkins to get speakers who are Baltimore-related," added senior Esther Pak.

"While many members of the class of 2007 may be disappointed now, I hope that they will not remain so after his speech on May 17, regardless of whether or not they are NFL fans. I'm happy that the senior council chose someone of local importance and also someone who is different from the mold of past speakers," said Laura Hansell, president of Student Council.

Hansell also attributed the selection of the "not well-known" speaker to scheduling and funding difficulties.

"It is the tradition at Hopkins that the speaker is not paid," Director Lowres explained. In keeping with tradition, Billick will be speaking at Hopkins without monetary compensation.

"The process of finding a speaker should not be underestimated and requires a great deal of time, preparation, and planning as carried out by the senior council," said Pow-anpongkul. "I find that in any case, however, it would be extremely difficult to find a commencement speaker within our limits."

Pow-anpongkul attributes much of this year's success in securing Billick to the "dedicated officers" of the senior class. "I truly believe that the class of 2007 is fortunate to have such dedicated officers," he said. "Working this past semester with the members of the senior class council has been a great experience, and I expect this Spring semester to be even more successful for the senior class council as we wind down to the last months of our undergraduate career."

The announcement came after Billick led the Baltimore Ravens to the franchise's unprecedented winning record of 13-3 and the American Football Conference North divisional title. The Ravens ultimately lost to the Indianapolis Colts, ending their odds of playing in the Super Bowl.

Billick graduated from Brigham Young University and soon embarked on a lifelong profession in coaching football. He was eventually named head coach in 1999 by the Baltimore Ravens, which had previously always ended the season with a losing record.

Billick has often been credited with turning the Baltimore Ravens around from a predominantly losing team to a competitive force in the AFC, leading the team to a Super Bowl Championship in 2000. To date, three former assistant coaches under Billick are now head coaches for teams in the National Football League.

Billick joins an impressive roster of previous commencement speakers including former Vice President Al Gore, comedian Bill Cosby, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former news anchor Tom Brokaw and novelist Tom Clancy.