The Observer, March 28, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 22
Case finds commencement speaker on Craigslist
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Craig Newmark, founder of the Internet classified ad server craigslist.org, has been announced as this year's commencement speaker. The double alumnus of Case Western Reserve will give his commencement address on Sunday, May 18, at 9:30 a.m. in Veale Athletic and Recreation Center.
Named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2005, Newmark received his bachelor's and master's from Case and created the online phenomenon Craigslist, an online community that receives more than nine billion page views a month and serves over 30 million visitors. The ad community serves nearly 450 cities in 50 countries around the world per month, putting the website in 56th place overall among all sites in the world. In addition to job postings, Craigslist features notices for homes, personals, and events. It also includes numerous discussion forums.
The 55-year-old native of New Jersey created Craigslist while working in San Francisco as a software developer. The idea began when Newmark started sending friends e-mails about art-and-technology parties he thought were worth attending. The friends then passed the messages on to others, becoming the San Francisco area's grapevine for entertainment news. Over a period of time, the e-mails became the official Craigslist Internet users know today.
"I am so pleased that Craig Newmark has agreed to be our commencement speaker," Case president Barbara Snyder said. "His entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with the philanthropic commitment evident in his Craigslist Foundation, makes him an ideal person to advise our graduates as they move on to the next phase in their lives."
Newmark's name was submitted for the commencement task in a student survey along with several heavyweights, including Bill Cosby, Bill Gates, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, names that tend to appear every year. But speaking fees are an important consideration when choosing a speaker.
Eric Dicken, executive director of University Programs and Events, said that many of the nominees would have required fees equal to or larger than the budget allocated for the entire commencement ceremony.
But the major reasons why Newmark was selected were because of his long history with the university, and because he had already accepted an invitation to receive an honorary Ph.D. from an entirely separate committee at the commencement ceremony, Dicken said.
"Craig's name was one that was thrown out early," said Neil Ursic, who served on the Commencement Speaker Selection Committee last year. "I think that the success he has achieved is remarkable, and it's important to highlight that he is a double alum."
The university committee delegated with the task of choosing a speaker has representatives from all factions of the university, from USG to the Faculty Senate. When choosing a speaker, the committee carefully considers whether the candidate has a high level of recognition among students and notable achievements for which the candidate would merit an honorary degree. In addition, the candidate should serve as a role model for students and preferably have a connection to the Cleveland area.
Of all the candidates, the committee felt Newmark to be an appropriate choice because he was able to successfully apply Case degrees to the real world, said Dicken. He was able to create a niche in the Case community as a self-proclaimed nerd and successfully carve out a similar niche in the job market.
"I think his talk will shed light on his experience at CWRU, as well as how it's enabled him to achieve what he has. I look forward to it," said Ursic.
The committee hopes that Newmark's experiences at Case will make the speech personal, since many of the administrators, faculty and staff on the stage will be the same influential professors who taught him during his undergraduate and graduate career.
"At first I was disappointed," said senior Meera Menon. "Although I have heard it is a great resource, I have never used Craigslist before. I was wondering why they did not ask someone well-known. However, I think it will be inspiring to hear from a CWRU alum who is now extremely successful. Plus, the best speakers are not always the ones who are so wellknown."
Students can learn more about Newmark and the commencement ceremony at www.case.edu/commencement.
