Harvard, rub la, go rub in our face!

J.K. Rowling To Speak at Commencement

Harvard Crimson | CLAIRE M. GUEHENNO and LAURENCE H. M. HOLLAND | January 17, 2008 12:12 PM

Harry Potter never returned to Hogwarts for his seventh and final year, so J. K. Rowling never got to write a graduation speech for her magical protagonist.

The author of the mega-bestseller "Harry Potter" series will get a chance to make up for that in June, when she delivers the keynote address at Harvard's Commencement exercises, the University announced Thursday morning.

"Perhaps no one in our time has done more than J. K. Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading," said University President Drew G. Faust in the statement.

The "Harry Potter" books have sold more than 375 million copies since the first volume, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," was released in 1997, according to a University statement. The seven installments have been translated into 65 languages and are available in more than 200 countries.

The University will also grant Rowling— a native of Great Britain whose net worth has been estimated at over $1 billion—an honorary degree at the June 5 ceremony.

Harvard is no stranger to Harry Potter mania.

Last July, on the eve of the release of the seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," dozens of restaurants and stores in Harvard Square stayed open late and posted Harry Potter-themed specials, Tercentenary Theater hosted a three-hour concert that featured the musical stylings of Harry and the Potters, and hundreds of Harry Potter fans, many in wizard costumes, lined up outside the Coop to purchase a copy at the stroke of midnight.

First, I find out that Harvard is getting one of the coolest Commencement Speakers ever (and many students and staff complained that J.K. Rowling was not good enough for them LOL...*banging head on the wall*). Then, I find out that Harvard is getting one of the most important Class Day Speakers ever TOO--Ben Bernanke.

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(sweat drop)

Damnit, Harvard! We all know that you're really prestigious and cool and really hard to get admitted for (7.06%) but there's really no need to rub it in our face!

Bernanke Joins J.K. Rowling As Harvard Class Day Speaker

Harvard Crimson | ADITI BALAKRISHNA | April 10, 2008 01:45 PM

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben S. Bernanke '75 will take to the steps of Memorial Church in June as this year's Class Day speaker, the University announced yesterday.

Bernanke, considered the nation's most influential economic policy maker, follows in the footsteps of President Bill Clinton, who spoke at Class Day last year.

"When we found out J.K. Rowling was going to be speaking [at Commencement], we wanted to find someone that would kind of balance our graduation ceremonies," said Class Marshall Alexander J. Tennant '08. "He's a Harvard alum, and he is also in a position to make major decisions for the US and the economy, and we thought he would provide that perfect balance of thought."

Bernanke joins a list of Class Day speakers that includes such notables as Mother Teresa, playwright Arthur Miller, former Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, and Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr.