March 6, 2007
Matthew Fox: Too Hot For Columbia's Class Day?
Apparently, sexy Hollywood beefcake is what Columbia College is trying to promote at its Class Day this year! Last year, father-of-fellow-Columbia College-student Senator John McCain spoke, to wide protest. This year, Columbia College has selected Matthew Fox, star of Lost, to be the main speaker.
Naturally, students are very divided about the news. One tells the Columbia Spectator, "I've never heard of this guy. The years before got a Pulitzer Prize-winner and a potential presidential candidate. I suppose that after what happened last year, they wanted someone less controversial," while another student says, "It's awesome, really awesome. Better than McCain." Fox is certainly hotter than McCain.
Fox graduated from Columbia in 1989 and played for its football team, the Columbia Lions, when the team broke Columbia's 44-game losing streak. According to IMDB, he majored in economics "with the intent to end up on Wall Street. However, his girl friend's mother was a modeling agent who convinced him to try some modeling which led to a couple of TV commercials." The Bwog wants students to protest Class Day, because "seriously, Matthew Fox?" Bwog suggests other entertainment world types like Anna Paquin, Dan Futterman (from Judging Amy and the Oscar-nominated co-writer of Capote), Brian Dennehy, Brian DePalma, and Maggie Gyllenhaal: "We want a Class Day speaker that has accomplished more than being hot and lucking into a role on a show with a bunch of hot girls and then another that was a hit for a season and a half."
If we were back in college, we'd probably have more strong feelings about this. That said, since we can't remember who our class day speaker was (sorry, whomever spoke in 1998!), we think this is pretty awesome. Once Fox figures out what the Dharma Initiative is all about, you Columbia students will be glad he was your Class Day speaker!
The playwright Tony Kushner gave a great Class Day speech in 2004 (read it here). Here's a list of other notable Columbia College alumni, which includes Barack, Us Weekly editor Janice Min, Julia Styles, and Mario Van Peebles.
[Via Just Jared - thanks!]
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I've always wondered what exactly is a "beef cake." Is it like chicken pot pie? A cake made of beef sounds gross to me.
Honestly, wtf cares who speaks at a college graduation? Having Matthew Fox is not going to hurt anyone, and it's not like these speeches will have any dramatic effect on anyone anyway. In the scheme of things, it's such a trivial thing to whine about. Just get it over with, graduate and have some fun, jesus. Honestly, these people should be more concerned about their future or their career, or perhaps how they'll contribute to society or make a difference...
Honestly, wtf cares who speaks at a college graduation? Having Matthew Fox is not going to hurt anyone, and it's not like these speeches will have any dramatic effect on anyone anyway. In the scheme of things, it's such a trivial thing to whine about. Just get it over with, graduate and have some fun, jesus. Honestly, these people should be more concerned about their future or their career, or perhaps how they'll contribute to society or make a difference...
How do you go from McCain to Fox, and not even Michael J. Fox? Maybe we should be expecting Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan to speak next year, if K-Fed is not busy promoting his second album.
GAY. Liberace Gay.
I have to admit that Jason's right. Of all my graduations, I remember virtually nothing of the ceremonies. All I remember is that every one of them went on way too long. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't even go to commencement.
This is the reason I want to strangle so many people in class. GET OVER YOURSELVES!!! People at this school take themselves too damn seriously. I think it's great to have Matthew Fox speak. Must we talk about the fucking war and the fucking elections every single fucking minute of our meaningless, immature, undergraduate lives???
And who the freaking hell are you to say he's dumb?? Being on TV doesn't make someone dumb. He got into Columbia and graduated. You're acting as if he had gotten a degree from an online diploma mill... Is that really how you feel about Alma Mater?
is there anything columbia students won't protest?
is there anything columbia students won't protest?
Tell me- do you cover every graduation in the city, or just the ones at your alma mater?
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read!
Why is Maggie Gyllenhal qualified...or Anna Pacquin but not Matthew Fox? Just because he's a television actor and not primarily in film doesn't mean his work is any less worthy. Maybe these morons have a problem because you play the same character on television for awhile...but I've seen tons of TREMEMDOUS acting on televsion. He didn't LUCK into anything. He is a talented actor who had crafted great characters on two popular television shows. He's not a himbo for christ's sake! He's a good actor and he deserves to be recognized as such.
Did Anna Paquin even get her degree? I thought she dropped out citing 'nothing matches acting'. So how's she a better choice than Fox?
Why am I not suprised!!! First I must throw out a disclaimer to those of you college graduates who had a clue when you graduated. These comments are not meant to offend any of you. That being said, I have never met a humble college graduate in my life. My company hired a recent college graduate for a receptionist position who at time was thankful for a paying job. However, shortly thereafter she spent more time walking around the office complaining that she was too good for this job because she was a "college graduate" yet for the life of her she could not figure out how to work the freaking phone system. There is a diffence between and education and "REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE" the latter being far, far more valuale in what shall we call "LIFE" or the "REAL WORLD". Leave it to a buch of stuck up, arrogant columia students who actually have an attitude about getting a celebrity guest speaker. Clearly, real problems have not plaugued those students and unfortunately for the rest of us they are being turned loose in to society. Never fear, they will all have their bubble burst at some point and long for the days they only had to worry about Matthew Fox speaking on class day.
my commencement had bill clinton after he was president. So, I guess I remembered my commencement speaker.
CC 98' speaker for college day, I think, was Judge Joseph Greenaway.
Embarrassed that I remember that.
Class Day Speaker in 2000 was Brian Dennehy and his whole speech was about how he was really hung over and how being hung over is good.
It was great. I think you should ONLY have drunk celebrities speak on Class Day. Screw academics and intellectualism, graduating seniors want to hear about what bar to go to.
Gus, that was the most uninformed, insecure response on this page. I graduated from Columbia last year and was supremely annoyed by the protests over having someone as notable as John McCain speak at graduation. I do think it's a little odd to have a relatively unknown actor speak at Columbia's graduation, but I agree with the majority of respondents here - whatever.
But to revive the pathetic argument that somehow a college degree and what one might call "perspective" are mutually exclusive is an ignorant punt. A fair portion of Columbia students have dealt with many "real life" problems. Assuming that because they are at a great school they have all led plush, spoiled lives only demonstrates your OWN ignorance.
I'm sorry to tell you Gus that in the not-so-distant future, these unexperienced, arrogant Columbia kids will be the leaders in your office, your career field, and your community. I have nothing but respect for those in this country who, for various reasons, do not get to go to college - I come from a family of such people. But it is insecure, stick-up-your-ass people like you who give the rest of the degree-less population a very bad name.
Matthew Fox? If you think that's bad, my commencement speaker was the president of ANOTHER COLLEGE.
Mine too! Did you graduate from Fordham in 2005, or has this happened multiple times?
i think it happened at NYU in 06, we (well not me, i wasn't in that class) had the president of princeton or something?