Producer of 'Wicked' to speak at graduation

Legally Blonde was set at Harvard University, but its producer Marc Platt is a proud Penn alumnus.

Platt, a 1979 College graduate who is known for producing the Grammy-winning musical Wicked and the Legally Blonde movies, has been selected as the alumni graduation speaker for the College of Arts and Sciences. College senior Maya Ondalikoglu will be joining him as the student graduation speaker. They will be followed on Monday by the main speaker, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Ondalikoglu, who is a double major in Political Science and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, said she will discuss how Penn helped to cultivate her identity.

"I'm very excited . and I'll focus on why Penn was so great for me," she said.

Ondalikoglu spent several weeks brainstorming ideas for her speech, a portion of which will be about her dog.

Although this year's speakers represent the liberal arts side of Penn, that isn't always the case. Dennis Deturck, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the administration tries to "mix it up in terms of different parts of arts and science" by inviting speakers who represent different aspects of a liberal arts education every year.

DeTurck added that the College administration also looks for alumni speakers who are interesting and can identify with students. In particular, they try to find alumni who share a special connection with the graduating class, such as having a child or grandchild at Penn.

This year, for instance, Platt's son is a member of the class of 2008. He and his wife Julie Beren Platt, also a 1979 alumna and an alumni trustee, gave a large gift to help build the Platt Student Performing Arts Center. Marc Platt also helps students find internships in the entertainment industry.

The selection of alumni speakers was determined primarily by the College administration and with help from the alumni society. The Dean's Advisory Board also gave some feedback.

Students took a more proactive role in selecting the student graduation speaker. Judith McKee, director of administration for the College of Arts and Science, said that undergraduate department chairs and program directors were asked to nominate students. The nominated students auditioned by presenting their speech to a panel, which consisted of an equal number of students and administrative staff.

McKee said the most important thing was to find students who could articulate their experiences at Penn and also demonstrate some creativity.

Both she and DeTurck said the students and alumni are usually very willing to participate once they're selected.

"We rarely get turned down [from alumni]," Deturck said.

Ondalikoglu and Platt will be speaking at the College graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Field.

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