SUBJECT:

1998 Commencement Speaker

In adopting a three-year trial for a general campus commencement,
UCSD has embarked on a course that has not yet been fully charted.
Because our campus has not previously held all-campus commencements,
we do not have a consultative procedure for selecting a speaker to give
the main address. We have been fortunate that through unique
circumstances the first general commencement address was delivered
by the President of the United States and the second will be delivered by
the Speaker of the House. It is now appropriate to establish a procedure
that will allow the views of the UCSD community to be represented in the
process through which a commencement speaker is selected.

I am appointing a committee whose task will be to propose a procedure
for consulting students, faculty and staff in a way that is appropriate to
conduct negotiations with highly public figures. I expect the committee
to recommend a plan to me before the end of the current academic year.
There is a degree of urgency because by next fall we need to have begun
the selection process for the 1999 commencement. The committee will be
composed of the following: the current and former Presidents of the
Associated Students (or designates), the President of the Graduate
Students Association (or designate), two college provosts, two students
from the undergraduate college student councils, two faculty members
(selected by the Academic Senate's Committee on Committees), the
President of the Staff Association (or designate), and Vice Chancellor-
Student Affairs Joseph Watson. Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic
Affairs David Miller will chair the committee.

Since many members of the UCSD campus have expressed to me their
concern about how the commencement speaker for the 1998 graduate
was chosen, I want to clarify that process. Shortly after an ad hoc
committee appointed to study campus graduation ceremonies
issued its report and I decided to pursue a campus-wide commencement
on a trial basis, I was informed that the Speaker of the House was available
to deliver the commencement address at UCSD. With the ceremony a mere
eleven weeks away, there was unfortunately little time for wide campus
consultation; an immediate decision was required.

My decision to invite Newt Gingrich was based on the distinction of his
office. As Speaker of the House, he is just behind the Vice President
in line for the presidency and thus is one of the nation's highest ranking
public figures. Speaker Gingrich has long been an active and effective
advocate for research universities. I recognize, also, that he is a
controversial choice for many reasons. But as Chancellor I wholeheartedly
believe that one of the university's most important functions is to serve
as a forum for intellectual debate, airing of controversy, and the discussion
of dissident ideas. If we are to preserve that function, we must remain open
to the expression of all points of view. By inviting President Clinton and
Speaker Gingrich to address our graduating classes, we signal our role as a
major forum for contending ideas.

I hope you will all join with me at UCSD's 1998 commencement ceremony
in honoring our graduating seniors and in giving Speaker Gingrich
a courteous hearing.

Robert C. Dynes Chancellor