MSU officials may use the appearance of Vice President Dick Cheney at graduation as a promotional tactic to entice prospective students.
MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said that the university could use Cheney’s visit to promote the university in brochures as well as the alumni magazine.
Cheney was the speaker at the 2002 spring convocation May 3 and was the fourth vice president to speak at MSU’s commencement.
MSU also has hosted three U.S. presidents as speakers.
The last presidential speaker was former President Bill Clinton in 1995, who spoke at Breslin Center.
Many of these speakers have been used in MSU literature to capture the attention of parents and possible future students.
Denbow said one of the strengths of MSU is the many prominent speakers hosted on campus.
“Of course we would use it,” he said. “We carried it in our recruitment. We often, in brochures, use public officials.”
Deb Pozega Osburn, director of media communications at MSU, said she doesn’t know of any formal plans to use Cheney as a promotional technique, but it is always a bonus.
“I think that any time you have a prestigious visitor such as Cheney it’s a testimony to the reputation of the university,” she said.
“It’s not unusual for us to get high profile and influential speakers.
“Certainly the attention that the university would get from such a speaker would make a difference to potential students.”
Even prior to his visit, MSU Trustee Dee Cook said having Cheney as a speaker would be good for MSU’s reputation.
“One of the benefits of this is the kind of national recognition that comes with having this kind of person on campus,” she said.
But some students don’t feel there is any merit of using high-profile speakers for recruitment.
Accounting graduate student Erin Welsh said seeing Cheney in a brochure would not have affected her decision whether to attend MSU.
“I’ve never looked at political figures as role models,” she said. “Especially as where I would attend college.”
Staff writers Amy Bartner and Antonio Planas contributed to this report.
