HLS Names Class Day Speaker

Former presidential adviser David R. Gergen has been chosen to speak at Harvard Law School's Class Day ceremonies on June 9, the University announced today.

Gergen, now public service professor at the Kennedy School of Government, previously served as special adviser to President Clinton and has also worked in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

A 1967 graduate of the law school, Gergen also works as an editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report.

The four HLS class marshals--John J. Cranley, Harold P. Hope, J. Scott Janoe and Raj Pai--made the decision to invite Gergen.

"We mulled over the possibilities and then decided that Gergen could appeal to most of our classmates," Cranley wrote in an e-mail message.

Cranley said Gergen's life in public service makes him ideally suited to speak to the law school class.

"Having worked for Democrats and Republicans, Gergen represents the old notion that duty to country is not partisan," he wrote. "Also, he is a Harvard Law School grad, which reminds us that we come from a tradition of providing this country with the `best and the brightest' to advance the common good."

Cranley said students seem pleased with the decision.

"We announced it pretty late in the year, so we did not receive many responses, positive or negative," Cranley wrote. "The few people I have spoken with are excited."

Last year's HLS Class Day speaker was Elliot L. Richardson '41, a former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts; secretary of health, education and welfare; secretary of defense; and attorney general.