Dear Rice Community,
Thank you for assisting in the search for Rice’s May 2024 Commencement Speaker! When making a recommendation, please bear in mind that the speaker should have broad appeal to a wide audience as our students, their families, faculty members, and staff come from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences.
In addition, it is important to note that as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Rice cannot pay the large fees required to book celebrity speakers. Thus, unless you have a personal connection to a sought-after, highly-paid speaker that might bring them to campus for a lesser fee, it is unlikely we would be successful in our bid.
Nominations are CLOSED for the May 2024 Commencement Speaker!
When making your recommendation, please adhere to the following requirements:
- Use this naming convention: [First Name] [Last Name] without any other titles. We would like to be able to sort responses by name to find those that naturally rise to the top.
- Provide a brief synopsis of the speaker.
- Explain how they align with Rice’s mission or goals.
- Tell us why you believe this person would be a good candidate as a Commencement Speaker.
- If they have spoken at a similar public/private event before, please provide a link to a video.
- Let us know if you have a personal connection to this individual. If yes, would you be willing to assist in connecting us with the individual? (We will not share your connection outside this committee.)