News

The selection of the 2008 graduation speaker has sparked controversy between the administration and the seniors. Principal Stanley Teitel reserved New York Times writer David Herszenhorn, while senior class president Michelle Lee and senior Gabe Paley reserved Jonathan Safran Foer, author of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” and “Everything Is Illuminated.” Students are petitioning for Herszenhorn to step down.

Traditionally, the senior president and vice president are supposed to choose a graduation speaker by April.

“By mid-April, I was nervous that a speaker wasn’t picked. I asked Michelle if it would be okay if I picked and she said it was fine,” Teitel said.

Teitel then contacted Herszenhorn and asked him to be the graduation speaker. “Within two days, he had emailed me. I immediately printed out the email and brought it to Michelle during her class,” he said.

Lee declined to comment.

Teitel chose Herszenhorn because he was accessible and capable.

“Students usually just want a celebrity. [Previous graduation speaker] Conan O’Brien made jokes. It was funny. We laughed, but it was nothing profound. I wanted to choose someone who would speak about something related to Stuy,” he said.

Due to miscommunication, Paley was unaware that a speaker had been selected.

“I tried contacting Foer earlier in the year, but I never got a response. In mid April, my dad was able to get his email address through a Fellowship Program to Israel that Foer, my father and I are involved in,” Paley said.

According to Paley, Foer responded immediately and said “he would love to speak.”

Paley, Lee and Student Union president Jamila Ma asked Teitel if Herszenhorn could step down. Teitel said no.

“It would have been different if Foer had said yes before I asked Herszenhorn,” Teitel said.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” he said. “Michelle knew before I asked [Herszenhorn].”

“I don’t want to say that the problem was miscommunication. Things just weren’t as clear as they should have been,” Ma said. “Nobody did anything wrong here, so there’s no one to blame.”

Paley agreed. “Teitel did the honorable thing,” he said.

“Either way, Stuy is going to look bad asking someone to not speak,” Ma said.

Ma and Paley drafted a letter to Teitel requesting Herszenhorn to step down. “We also gave him 100 signatures from the senior class which we got in only a few periods,” Paley said.

Ma and Paley believe that the senior class identifies more with Foer. Students who take Advanced Placement (AP) Great Books are required to read “Everything Is Illuminated.” 68 seniors currently take AP Great Books.

“If we weren’t reading [Foer], it wouldn’t matter as much,” said senior Allison Chen, who takes AP Great Books.

“I would really prefer Foer, but I understand why people might think that it’s unacceptable to rescind [Herszenhorn’s] offer,” senior Lily Warnke said.

Teitel rejected their request, “but we are still fighting,” Paley said.

When asked about the possibility of having two graduation speakers, Teitel said, “I certainly know that Herszenhorn will speak. Whether Foer will speak remains uncertain.”

Some students remain indifferent to the issue. “I don’t really care that much because it’s only about 10 minutes of our graduation,”senior Nicki Fleischner said.

According to Fleischner, “there are some seniors annoyed we didn’t get our act together,” he said.

Assistant Principal English Eric Grossman said, “I know there are a handful of seniors who are in the Student Union and see it as their job to make a great graduation, but it has to have its limits, and if everyone can’t be satisfied, people should focus on the main thing: being Stuy students for the last time.”