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With graduation only one month away, seniors have been anxiously waiting to see who will deliver this year's commencement address. Although at the time this paper went to print the college had not announced this year's speaker, The Greyhound has learned that former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani will deliver this year's address.
Sunny Mindel, a spokesperson for Giuliani, confirmed to The Greyhound last Friday night that the former N.Y. mayor will speak at Loyola's graduation on Friday, May 20 before he travels to Middlebury College in Vermont to deliver their address two days later.
"I would love to see Rudy," said senior Tom Cuomo. "I'm from New York, and his leadership through Sept. 11 was phenomenal."
"He's a big-name guy, and it's really good for the college. A lot of students are from that region and will really look forward to hearing him," Cuomo said.
"It is someone that appeals to all students even if they aren't Republicans," senior Kieran Smith said. "He's more than just about politics -- especially with Sept. 11. It's someone that a lot of students and parents will be happy about."
"I think it's incredible," senior Matt Mychailyszyn said. "I always liked him when he was mayor. I think he did a great job when he was mayor in reaction to the Sept. 11 events. I'm really excited to have him; I think he's a great person to continue to being in the political spotlight."
Students appear to be much more excited about Giuliani than seniors had been about the two previous commencement speakers -- William Safire and David Gergen.
"I'm happy with it, and I think it's really good," said senior Jessica Bongiovanni. "I think people will be more interested because I think more people will know Mayor Giuliani."
"Whether you agree or not with Guiliani's policies, you can not help but to admire his leadership during a troublesome period in history as America was attacked on it's own soil and faced with a crisis," senior Tamara Wright said.
Students hope that Giuliani will talk about his own experiences as well as impart words of advice for their future.
"He's been a very pivotal figure, [so] just to hear what he has to say about moving on past college and what's important" will be very exciting, Mychailyszyn said.
"I think he can deliver a very powerful message to the class of 2005," Wright said.
During his eight years as mayor of New York City (Jan. 1, 1994 -- Dec. 31, 2001), Giuliani helped spearhead campaigns that drastically reduced the city's crime rate, cleaned up areas such as Times Square and turned a $2.3 billion deficit into a multi-billion dollar surplus when he left office.
However, Giuliani became a national figure for his direction and leadership on the morning of and in the days, weeks and months following terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. After the first plane hit the World Trade Center, Giuliani rushed to the scene and immediately spoke to the public assuring the city residents and the nation that they were doing everything to rescue those trapped and ensure safety for the rest of the area.
Giuliani provided a sense of stability that the country needed after the attack and kept the nation abreast with any new information as soon as it became available to him.
For his leadership, Time magazine named Giuliani its man of the year in 2001.
After his mayoral term ended, he ventured into the private sector as he is currently the chairman and CEO of Giuliani Partners, LLC, which he founded in January of 2002.
Giuliani started his political career as a clerk for Judge Lloyd MacMahon, U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York, but was soon hired to serve the U.S. Attorney's office.
He was later named Associate Attorney General, the third-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice, and his subsequent role placed him as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York -- where he fought organized crime and won a record-number of cases.
Giuliani was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on May 28, 1944, attended Manhattan College and graduated from New York University School of Law with honors.
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