EIU Graduate School

Commencement Speaker Competition

To promote EIU's commitment to strengthening the academic and personal experience for our students and to showcase examples of exemplary writing and speaking, Eastern Illinois University introduced the Student Commencement Speaker Series in 2013 replacing the former student and faculty speaker traditions at EIU. The student speaker representing the Graduate School was featured during the Fall 2019 ceremony.

Announcing the 2019 selected graduate student speaker:

Jalisha Smith, Human Services Program Administration- spoke at the 10:00 am ceremony and was introduced by her faculty mentor Dr. Jill Bowers. Read Jalisha's essay here.