|
|
Baccaulaureate / Class Day / |
Final Exercises Speaker |
|---|---|---|
|
1964 |
|
Colgate W. Darden, Jr. |
|
1965 |
|
Robert Kent Gooch |
|
1966 |
|
Jesse Wakefield Beams |
|
1967 |
|
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. |
|
1968 |
|
Mills E. Godwin, Jr. |
|
1969 |
|
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. |
|
1970 |
Baccalaureate was cancelled |
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. |
|
1971 |
Kenneth G. Elzinga |
Vance Hartke |
|
1972 |
Buckminster Fuller |
William F. Buckley, Jr. |
|
1973 |
James Dickey |
|
|
1974 |
Garry B. Trudeau |
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr. |
|
1975 |
George Garrett |
Nancy Hale |
|
1976 |
Joseph Sorrentino |
Mills E. Godwin, Jr. |
|
1977 |
Raymond A. Moody, Jr. |
James R. Schlesinger |
|
1978 |
James S. Payne |
Thurgood Marshall |
|
1979 |
Eugene McCarthy |
William H. Rehnquist |
|
1980 |
Raymond C. Bice, Jr. |
Charles L. Brown |
|
1981 |
Jeff MacNelly |
George Bush |
|
1982 |
Virginius Dabney |
Pete V. Domenici |
|
1983 |
D. Alan Williams |
Charles Robb |
|
1984 |
Edward M. Kennedy |
C. Vann Woodward |
|
1985 |
John W. Warner |
Frank L. Hereford, Jr. |
|
1986 |
Ted Turner |
L. Douglas Wilder |
|
1987 |
Leslie Gelb |
Elizabeth H. Dole |
|
1988 |
Sam Donaldson |
John P. Stevens |
|
1989 |
Alex Sanders** |
Gerald Baliles |
|
1990 |
Arthur Ashe |
Robert M. O'Neil |
|
1991 |
Art Buchwald |
|
|
1992 |
Katie Couric |
|
|
1993 |
Tom Brokaw |
|
|
1994 |
Brit Hume |
|
|
1995 |
Marian Wright Edelman |
|
|
1996 |
James Carville |
|
|
1997 |
Wyatt Andrews |
|
|
1998 |
Christopher Reeve |
|
|
1999 |
Sara James |
|
|
2000 |
Andy Rooney |
|
|
2001 |
Timothy A. Koogle |
|
|
2002 |
David Baldacci |
|
|
2003 |
L.D. Britt |
|
|
2004 |
Atiim Kiambu (Tiki) Barber |
|
|
2005 |
||
|
2006 |
TomWolfe |
|
|
2007 |
Boyd Tinsley |
|
|
2008 |
Sheila C. Johnson |
|
|
2009 |
||
|
2010 |
||
|
2011 |
||
|
2012 |
||
|
2013 |
||
|
2014 |
||
| ***2015 | ||
| 2016 | ||
| 2017 | ||
|
2018 |
Terry Sullivan (Saturday) |
|
| 2019 | Pharrell Williams | |
| ****2020 | N/A | Melody Barnes |
| 2021 | Jay Pharoah | Alexis Ohanian |
| 2022 | Ralph Sampson | Claudrena Harold Taison Bell |
| 2023 | Jacqueline Novogratz | Carla Williams Louis Nelson |
*From 1971-1978, there was a Baccalaureate speaker. In 1979, there was a Baccalaureate/ Class Day speaker. Valedictory Exercises began in 1980.
**Mr. Sanders is an alumnus and was the parent of a graduating student. He substituted for Pat Conroy, who was unable to get to Charlottesville at the last minute due to weather.
***Until 2015, the University only held one Final Exercises Ceremony. It now holds two ceremonies - one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each ceremony has its own speaker.
****Due to Covid-19, the University could not hold in-person ceremonies. Instead a modified celebration was held virtually with no keynote speakers. One year later, the Class of 2020 returned to Grounds for in-person ceremonies (a morning and afternoon ceremony), at which Melody Barnes was the keynote speaker. Valedictory Exercises was not held.