An Effulgent Galaxy of Past Luminaries

As Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Paul A. Volcker has grown accustomed to the instant impact his public statements have on the world's economic markets. But when Volcker takes center-stage for today's Commencement ceremony, he will be only an average-sized star in an effulgent galaxy of past luminaries.

The speakers who have graced the Tercentenary Theater's podium over the years constitute an illustrious group, ranging from poets to presidents--and their remarks have occasionally changed the course of history.

Since Harvard began holding Commencement exercises in 1642, the event has been a parade of pomp and circumstance. In 1797, a live elephant made an appearance before the assemblage, while the featured entertainment included an archery competition with Indians from nearby Natick.

Until the nineteenth century, when the Fourth of July caught on as a holiday, Commencement was the seasonal excuse for feasts and New England-style bacchanalia, much to the chagrin of past Harvard President Increase Mather.

But from Revolutionary times, Commencement has also been a forum for serious debate, epitomized first by the "Thesis and Question" and more recently by the featured speech. As Samuel Eliot Morison shows in his Three Centuries of Harvard, speakers invariably chose to exploit their moment in Harvard's unique spotlight by addressing one of the burning issues of the day.

Alongside the elephants and Indians, men like Governor Elbridge Gerry and John Adams, Class of 1775, held forth on subjects like the Stamp Tax and the balance of powers.

Modern technology and America's emergence as a major world power since the 1930s has converted Commencement into an international media event, making it appropriate for statements of global import.

Perhaps the most famous event occurred in 1947, when Gen. George C. Marshall unveiled what came to be known as the Marshall Plan, the United States' proposal for the rebuilding of post-war Europe. Marshall's speech proved a harbinger of Cold War diplomacy.

However, not everyone who witnessed the general's address came away impressed. "Marshall's plan meant nothing to me at the time," says Mason Hammond '25, Pope Professor of Literature and Languages Emeritus. Hammond serves as "caller" on the platform at Commencement and has seen almost every ceremony since his own graduation.

David A. Aloian '49, Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association--the official sponsor of the afternoon exercises--missed Marshall's speech by two years. However, he recalls an equally famous address by Russian defector and author Alexsandr I. Solzhenitsyn in 1978.

Solzhenitsyn's polemical essay, read by a translator as a light drizzle fell on the crowd, made enormous waves in the intellectual community. The Nobel Prize-winning writer who built his reputation declaiming the evils of communism stunned the world with a diatribe on the evils of capitalism, leaving Harvard seniors and their parents with a chilling forecast or Western Civilization's demise.

"It was a great occasion," Aloian says of Solzhenitsyn's appearance, adding, "It was exactly what a Harvard Commencement should be, a wonderful and profound individual dealing eloquently with a major issue."

But David Riesman '31, Ford Professor of Social Sciences Emeritus, believes Commencement has become too political.

"A good address should be reflective, invitational to thought," says Riesman. He considers Solzhenitsyn's speech an abuse of Harvard's influence and institutional neutrality.

"My main interest is in the human prospect of survival," says Riesman. "Anything that feeds the mindless rhetoric of anti-Soviet activism is detrimental."

Riesman also criticizes the University's decision in 1983 to invite Lech Walesa, leader of Poland's outlawed Solidarity Union. Although Wales a was prevented from attending (Latin author Carlos Fuentes spoke instead), a text of his remarks was distributed to the Commencement audience. The selection of Walesa and its aftermath was an extravagantly political and "inappropriate" gesture, Riesman says.

The "ideal of all that a Commencement speaker should be," in Riesman's words, was realized in 1982 when Eliot Professor of Greek Literature Emeritus John H. Finley '25 spoke.

Harvard broke with tradition that year to honor one of its own. The result was a witty, anecdotal account by Finley of his long career at Harvard, where among other accomplishments he served from 1941 to 1968 as Master of Eliot House.

Tradition was also defied in 1980, when President Bok invited President Reagan to speak. The White House declined the offer.

Reagan's rejection surprised many because no sitting American president has spoken since 1905, when Theodore Roosevelt, an 1880 graduate of the College, delivered the address. Fourteen presidents have received honorary degrees through the years, however, beginning with George Washington in 1776.

Alotan says he hopes Reagan will come for the 350th anniversary of the University in September 1986.

And if the President does deign to honor Harvard with his presence, he will not be offending Riesman, who emphasizes the distinction between the elevated Commencement platform the purely celebratory occasion of the School's brithday.

"Harvard should do what is customary and ceremonial," Riesman says.

It has been something of an informal tradition for the nation's premier University on its anniversary: Andrew Jackson spoke at the 200th in 1836, Grover Cleveland attended the 275th, and Frankin D. Roosevelt '04 turned up in 1936.

Regardless, the stage is now set fore Volcker, who last week said he would address either "considerations of long range economic policy" or "the way government works."

"They overlap," he said, adding that he had yet to compose his remarks.Honorary Degree Recipients and dignitaries on the steps of Widener Library, Commencement Day, June 5, 1947. Front row, left to right: LAIRD BELL '94. Gov. ROBERT F. BRADFORD '23, R. KEITH KANE '22. Pres JAMES B. CONANT '14, honorary degree recipients GEORGE C. MARSHALL, OMAR N. BRADLEY, former Sen. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER '26, I.A. RICHARDS, and T.S. ELIOT '10.