By Alexandra Cheney
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — They've paid their dues and hopefully their tuition. Chances are, they're probably counting down the days until the polyester gowns and caps.
Students at colleges and universities throughout Manhattan will soon hear words of wisdom from their Commencement speakers, those presumably older and smarter.
NYU students will trek up to Yankee Stadium for their graduation and to hear commencement speaker, funny man and alum Alec Baldwin. Baldwin told NYULocal, the university's blog, that he has yet to decide what to speak about, but an idea he singled out was a "Save the World speech."
Peter Weller, known to some as "RoboCop," will be speaking at CUNY's Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies Baccalaureate ceremony, which contains approximately 500 students.
The students at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, (SIPA), are upset with Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citigroup, who was chosen as their keynote speaker. Within hours of the announcement, a Facebook group entitled "we don't want a bank executive to speak at our commencement" was created.
"We do NOT want a hot-shot banker to speak at its commencement. Well, he's not really a hot-shot, but he probably thinks he is. You get the point," the website's page says.
Marketing major and class of 1987 alum Nina Garcia will woo the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) graduates at Radio City Music Hall, while Meryl Streep with chat with Barnard College students.
Born and raised in Manhattan and currently serving as the district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. will be speaking at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ceremony, which will be held in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.
Fordham, Pace, Baruch, The Art Institute and Marymount Manhattan all have yet to confirm a speaker, and with graduation dates under a month away, students and staff alike are sure to be sweating nervously — and they aren't even in their gowns yet.
