Get over it already

For Penn's 250th Commencement, students hoped for a speaker with a stellar international reputation. Instead, they got Jodie Foster. Students -- and especially seniors -- are upset because the Academy Award-winning Foster won't bring the prestige the senior class was looking for in a Commencement speaker.

Of course the University should have done better. It's not likely Foster was near the top of anyone's short list for Commencement speakers. But while the choice of Foster may be unsatisfactory, the reaction from Penn students is just embarrassing.

The decision has been made, and students need to get over it.

While students seem focused on Foster's lack of prestige and name recognition, she may in fact prove to be a great choice for Commencement. Foster may not carry the same worldly weight as music superstar and activist Bono or United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Penn's last Commencement speaker, but her smaller place on the world stage could come with some advantages.

Foster has the ability to say things with honesty and passion that no major figure on the world's political stage could.

With the decision made, students should give her a chance. At this point, what choice do they have? Spreading petitions or sending angry e-mails will do little but set students up to be disappointed.

We hope that the Commencement committee made the best choice with the options available, but even if the University were to drop Foster from the Commencement slot, what then? It's doubtful that the committee could find another, better speaker with only two and a half months until Commencement.

Students may be disappointed with the selection -- particularly since Foster is not a Penn graduate -- but the complaints must end.

Foster may not have been anyone's top pick. But at this point, give her a chance.

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