@GMoney @CavTex It was over 150 in my brain, untold alcohol and whatever else I could find the night before, 1 hour of sleep, listening to Elizabeth Dole in what was the worst commencement speech ever given. And one of the top 25 days in my life still.
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Almost too hot for a few doobies, almost
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I dont think I could get my speaker right given multiple choice. Was a great day with my class though
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One year they had Pharrell as commencement speaker, I was hoping for Pusha T
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Shit we had Tom Brokaw and pres Casteen apparently
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Ours was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Helped that his son was in my class and sat a couple of seats down from me that day. A really special time that I got to relive 36 years later when my daughter walked (and Peyton Manning was the class day speaker - great!)
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We were suppose to have LBJ as our speaker in '73. (Chuck Robb was in law school then, and he orchestrated a really impressive parade of speakers entering the Grounds all year.) Unfortunately, Johnson passed away in January, so Lady Bird delivered our commencement address. I also took my degree under the old academic calendar. First semester ended after Christmas, and Commencement was June 6th (if I remember correctly). Not being a big fan of ceremony, of any kind, I skipped things and attended a family function out of town. When I got back to Charlottesville Sunday night, one of my roommateâs parents were questioning why he didnât skip the event, too. It was incredibly hot that afternoon.
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I know this is pretty sad and pathetic, but I have absolutely no clue who spoke at my graduation; I guess it wasnât someone very memorable, or I just zoned out. I do, however, absolutely remember walking the Lawn, and that is the part that was special to me; the speaker probably droned on and on with the typical platitude. Hence the zoning out.
Do admire how many of you have such a clear memory regarding the speaker.
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Theyâre all listed here if you want to look them up:
https://majorevents.virginia.edu/finals/archive/list-of-speakers
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Thatâs great; thank you! You have a link for everything! 
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Thanks for that. I hadnât a clue. Colgate Darden. Needless to say I donât have a clue what he said (probably not even in 1964)
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I learned a new word in this thread.
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Only thing I remember from my graduation is that it was held on the Lawn in the pouring rain, and my view of the speaker (whoever he was) was blocked by some 7-foot-4 classmate sitting three rows ahead of me.
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Is the commencement speech the one on Friday or the one on actual graduation day? Friday speech was awful my year. Greyâs Anatomy supporting actress telling us all how weird she is.
The actual graduation day speaker was Rita Dove. She was wonderful and itâs up on YouTube if anyone wants to watch
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I think in my day (99), it was valedictory on Saturday, and Commencement on Sunday? (Or maybe youâre right, it was Friday/Saturday; k canât remember). Whatever the order, the first one was picked by students and tended to be a bit more âfun.â
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I remember we had Andy Rooney for the first one and the CEO of the NASDAQ who was supposedly one of the dudes who put the cow on top of the Rotunda. 2000.
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I was early in the 3 day era in 2016. Our run of valedictory speakers sandwiched around that weird choice was Colbert, Peyton Manning, Ed Helms, the President of Colombia, Chris Long, and Pharrell lmao so my class really dropped the ball there if itâs on the students/student government
Dove made up for it for the college grads. Everyone else had some boring speaker on Sunday
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Same! You have really jogged my memoryâŚtotally forgot about the cow on the Rotunda. LOL.
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Donât you remember when they announced it about the cow⌠he pumped his fist and everyone cheered? LOL!
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