Harvard Can’t Find ‘Class Day’ Graduation Speaker; 10 Turn Down Invite

Harvard College is struggling to find a speaker for “Class Day” at its graduation later this month, with ten invited speakers already having turned down the slot, partly due to ongoing protests and antisemitism at the elite campus.

More than 10 people have declined offers to serve as the keynote speaker for Harvard College’s annual Class Day, leaving the Harvard Alumni Association scrambling to find a speaker with less than two weeks until the ceremony for undergraduate seniors.

The potential speakers declined for a variety of reasons, including an unwillingness to affiliate with Harvard during a year of controversy, scheduling conflicts, and high honorarium requests, according to Senior Class First Marshal Fez S. Zafar ’24.