They do it differently up on North Broad

Turns out, you don't have to be a celebrity to give a university commencement address.

Penn generally brings in a famed speaker from the outside to send off its graduates: Bono, Kofi Annan, Jodie Foster, James Baker.

But Temple University in North Philadelphia doesn't have quite the same tradition and this year, seniors at Temple heard from Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.

If you haven't heard of her, its probably because Hirsh-Pasek isn't a politician or an actress. She's a Temple psychology professor, "a real star" according to Temple spokesman Hillel Hoffmann. He added that the faculty speaker, a segment introduced this year by new president Ann Hart, will hopefully become a staple of the Temple commencement.

Hoffmann acknowledged, however, that the ceremony isn't exactly fertile ground for age-old customs. "Temple has not had a long-standing tradition" of keeping commencement the same, he said.

For the past few years, in fact, it seems no one has really given a proper keynote commencement address at Temple. Until 2004, Temple alumnus Bill Cosby would generally give an informal speech called the "special orders of business" - but he usually only spoke briefly.

Hoffmann, who was unsure why Cosby has not spoke lately, described the comedian's style as "somewhat unpredictable."

For her part, Hirsh-Pasek said she enjoyed writing and delivering the speech, which followed a Wizard of Oz thread and had some of the marks of being written by a Temple insider: references to a Temple study and her observations of campus life.

Hirsh-Pasek said that while some might think a faculty speaker could risk not speaking to current issues that are "prominent and hot" from an outside perspective, that simply is not true.

"What [professors] do is quite related to many of the hot issues" of our time, she said.

Meanwhile, most schools seem to be sticking with the tried-and-true celebrities. President Bush delivered three addresses this year, at the Kendall campus of Miami-Dade College, St. Vincent College and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

According to a list compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education, former President Bill Clinton is giving the most speeches with six. Presidential hopefuls are largely keeping up appearances, with Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama all working at least one crowd of graduates.

Former Penn President Judith Rodin spoke twice in two days, at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County and at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Current President Amy Gutmann, who spoke at Wesleyan University last year, is staying home this time, according to the Chronicle list.

Bennett College had poet Maya Angelou, and Brigham Young University heard from Vice President Dick Cheney. Harvard University will host world's richest man and Harvard dropout Bill Gates.

And even if he's not at Temple, Bill Cosby is staying busy. He spoke at Carnegie Mellon and High Point Universities.

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