"Party on, Demon Deacons, party on," were Secretary of State Colin Powell's memorable words of advice in 2004. A former First Lady, U.S. Senators, Governors, business leaders, a Cardinal and a cartoonist are among the speakers who have shared their wit and wisdom with graduates since the move to the new campus.
| 2007 |
David Brooks, Columnist, The New York Times |
| 2006 |
Mark Warner, Governor of Virginia (2002-2006) |
| 2005 |
Professional Golfer Arnold Palmer ('51) |
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| 2004 |
Secretary of State Colin Powell |
| 2003 |
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg |
| 2002 |
U.S. Senator John McCain |
| 2001 |
Former First Lady Barbara Bush |
| 2000 |
Cisco CEO John Chambers |
| 1999 |
Cardinal Francis Arinze |
| 1998 |
White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles |
| 1997 |
IBM CEO Lou Gerstner |
| 1996 |
U.S. Senator Sam Nunn |
| 1995 |
CNN News Anchor Judy Woodruff |
| 1994 |
Former Congressman Jack Kemp |
| 1993 |
Notre Dame President Emeritus Theodore Hesburgh |
| 1992 |
Novelist Tom Clancy |
| 1991 |
Virginia Governor Doug Wilder |
| 1990 |
Millard Fuller, Founder, Habitat for Humanity International |
| 1989 |
Benjamin Bradlee, Executive Editor, The Washington Post |
| 1988 |
PepsiCo CEO Wayne Calloway ('59) |
| 1987 |
North Carolina Governor James G. Martin |
| 1986 |
Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau |
| 1985 |
Reynolds Professor and Poet Maya Angelou |
| 1984 |
Bill Moyers, CBS News, Senior News Analyst |
| 1983 |
John William Gilbert, Member, British Parliament |
| 1982 |
Harris Llewellyn Wofford, Retired President, Bryn Mawr College |
| 1981 |
William Hampton Wagoner ('49), Chancellor, UNC-Wilmington |
| 1980 |
Merrimon Cuninggim, Retired president, Salem College |
|
| 1979 |
Peter Jay, British ambassador to the United States |
|
| 1978 |
Shearon Harris ('36, JD '38), Chairman, Carolina Power & Light Company |
| 1977 |
U.S. Representative Frank Thompson |
| 1976 |
Harry M. Philpott, President, Auburn University |
| 1975 |
U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) |
| 1974 |
Alvin M. Weinberg, Director, Office of Energy Research and Development, and Former Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| 1973 |
Wallace Carroll, Publisher, Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel |
| 1972 |
U.S. Representative Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich.) |
| 1971 |
Robert E.R. Huntley, President, Washington and Lee |
| 1970 |
Bill Moyers, Former Publisher, Newsday |
| 1969 |
President James Ralph Scales |
| 1968 |
J. Ollie Edmunds, Chancellor, Stetson University |
| 1967 |
Retiring President Harold W. Tribble |
| 1966 |
Vittorio Giannini, President, N.C. School of the Arts |
| 1965 |
Former N.C. Governor Terry Sanford |
| 1964 |
Edgar F. Shannon, President, University of Virginia |
| 1963 |
Luther H. Hodges, N.C. Secretary of Commerce |
| 1962 |
Liston Pope, Dean of the Divinity School, Yale University |
| 1961 |
Josef Nordenhaug, General Secretary, Baptist World Alliance |
| 1960 |
Lam Chi-Fung, President, Hong Kong Baptist College |
| 1959 |
Frances P. Gaines, President, Washington and Lee College and former president, Wake Forest College (1927-1930) |
| 1958 |
Kenneth I. Brown, Executive Director, Danforth Foundation |
| 1957 |
Gordon Gray, Director, Office of Defense Mobilization |
