Typically graduation is set for fulfilled dreams, new beginnings and inspiring send-offs. But MSU’s most recent graduation was shrouded with controversy.
The tension was not for poor graduation rates or foreboding job markets, rather the man on the podium speaking to MSU graduates.
December commencement speaker George Will was criticized for his position on sexual assault in a column in The Washington Post this past June.
Although the university scheduled Will to speak at commencement before the column, President Simon upheld his position as speaker against protest from student organizations including ASMSU. If the administration is willing to bet — and pay $47,500 — on their own public perception and student loyalty on one speaker, then why not let students choose the speaker?
As a student who is going to pack into the Breslin Center dressed in green robes in four months, I want a say in who will have the last instructional words in my Spartan career.
Here’s my vote: Sam Raimi. The director of the cult classic Evil Dead series and original Spider-Man trilogy grew up in Detroit and went to MSU for two years. Raimi is a discreet yet powerful figure in both special effects and niche storytelling.
He has no Twitter and chooses his projects carefully, spending most of the time behind the scenes as a producer where he has influenced 50 films and TV series, according to the Internet Movie Database.
During his time in East Lansing, Raimi started a film club in order to screen his Super-8 films on campus for $1.50. He would sit in the audience to see and hear the reactions from his work.
“And they just didn’t like them,” Raimi said in a recent interview on the Nerdist Podcast. “But eventually we cut out literally all the parts that didn’t work and we’d end up with shorts that had a joke here that worked, they’d like a little piece of action, and they liked ending.”
I want to hear how Raimi has persevered through the unknown and penniless years of his 20s to create some of the most influential works in the superhero and horror genres. He never earned his degree, so give him an honorary one. I’d rather hear from a former Spartan that I can identify with than an outsider whose opinions alienate us.
Luke Ferris is a journalism senior at MSU.
