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Updated: Jodi Picoult '87 to be Class Day Speaker

The Class of 2016 Class Day Committee announced Monday morning that the speaker for this year’s Class of 2016 Day will be novelist Jodi Picoult ’87.

Molly Stoneman '16, a member of the Class Day Committee, noted there have only been two women speakers, including Queen Noor of Jordan ’73 and journalist Katie Couric, as well as one person of color, Bill Cosby, in the history of Class Day.

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“We decided that we wanted to see more of the values of our class being reflected in the Class Day speaker,” Stoneman said. She added that Class Day speakers have tended to be white males from Hollywood or business fields but that the committee has recognized that many more students from the Class of 2016 were interested in hearing from people in professions in the arts, screenwriting, creative writing or advertising.

She noted that in the past four years she has witnessed seniors who have collaborated with Career Services, the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, the Women*s Center, the LGBT Center and other organizations on campus in order to find work after graduation, a departure from the stereotypical Princeton career path. This departure is reflected in the speaker choice, she explained.

For the first time in Class Day history, Picoult has asked the Class of 2016 what they would like to hear about in her remarks.

“I did ask the Class Day Committee to tell me a little about the things on campus during your four years that have been resonant, as I am sure the university is a very different place now than it was when I was there — and as a writer, I find it important to do my research,” said Picoult in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.

“I was sure someone had made a mistake,” Picoult described her reaction when being asked to be the Class Day speaker, “I mean — Colbert, Stewart, Nolan, Couric — it’s daunting, to say the least. But I’m trying to push past my Impostor Syndrome, because it is an overwhelming honor to be invited back to speak at my own university!”

Richard Lu ’16, Treasurer of the Class of 2016 Council, said, "I am confident that our class will walk away from Class Day grateful that Jodi Picoult, an accomplished author, pioneer for women artists and Princeton alumna, came to speak to us."

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Stoneman further explained that the Class Day Committee decided upon the speaker based on an open-response survey sent to members of the senior class. The survey asked for names of potential speakers that students saw an interest in. Two seniors will also be selected from an application process to speak during commencement weekend as well.

Stoneman noted that graduation ceremonies at the University include a Baccalaureate speaker, who is organized by the administration and a commencement speaker, who is typically secured by the president of the University. This year the other graduation speakers will be Harvard Law Professor of Criminal Law and Regulation of Race Relations Randall Kennedy ’77 and University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83.

Picoult, who graduated with a degree in English from the University, has published 26 novels in 22 years that have been translated in 34 languages in 35 countries. Eight of her books have been number one on the New York Times bestseller list, including “My Sister’s Keeper,” “Second Glass” and “The Story Teller.” She has addressed topics like stem-cell research, assisted dying, gay rights and school shooting in her novels.

“Picoult’s characters often represent the misunderstood or disenfranchised, and it is because of her extensive research about and compassion for her characters that we have invited her to speak, Class Day Committee member Azza Cohen ’16 noted, “She is an author who lifts up the voices of the unheard, which, in this year of discourse and turbulence and questions of inclusion on our campus, will be especially essential and timely."

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Cohen is a columnist for the Daily Princetonian.