No puzzle here

At IU Bloomington’s graduation ceremony May 3, the graduates and attendees will listen to a speech by IU alumnus Will Shortz, crossword editor of The New York Times and NPR Puzzlemaster. Shortz’s illustrious career and unique place in IU history as the world’s only degree-holder in enigmatology – the study of enigmas and puzzles – make him a superb choice for graduation speaker. Although not a household name, Shortz represents the vast possibilities that exist after a life of structured education.\nShortz might appear an odd choice to those expecting bigger names in commencement speakers. Celebrity speakers have become a mainstay of graduation speeches for quite some time. Modest schools such as Knox College pride themselves on notable speakers, including Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton in past years, and it has former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on tap for its 2008 commencement. That might lead some to ask why IU gets “that crossword guy” from The New York Times, who does not necessarily conjure up images of grandeur. \nBut when we look at the addresses of illustrious speakers in the past, we find just another platform from which they can spew the same old material. Obama spoke on his usual theme of hope and dreams for America, while President Bush used his 2007 commencement speech at Miami Dade College to promote his immigration bill. Didn’t commencement used to be about commemorating the soon-to-be graduates, rather than another soap box for speakers who have plenty already?\nWe wonder what the value of a super-celebrity graduation speaker is if they don’t speak to the students and instead speak past them. We’ve already sat through enough boring mandatory classes, and we don’t need one more long lecture about subjects we couldn’t possibly care less about. Hello? This is about us, not you. \nThis tendency to craft commencement addresses around the proclivities and fancies of the speaker has taken the emphasis unfortunately away from the students sitting on the brink of “the real world.” Instead, the speech inevitably veers toward the speaker’s own preferred subjects. While sitting in our robes, we’re more concerned with getting a job than missile defense.\nPerhaps this is why Shortz makes such an inspired choice for IU. Shortz’s topic for his address will be “finding something that you love and following your dreams” – a topic with which Shortz, who graduated from the University of Virginia Law School only to go on to full-time puzzling, is intimately familiar.\nAfter ignoring the conventional wisdom and forging his own path, Shortz could impart useful information to his captive audience, rather than the usual litany of professional rhetoric. So many seniors have locked into a career path (or have become increasingly neurotic because of an inability to find one) that it’s easy to forget the malleable future that lies ahead. The last thing we need is another authority figure outlining a policy statement to us.\nWe’ll happily take a relevant speaker over a self-important one.