This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In the unofficial contest to see which Utah institute of higher education can snag the coolest commencement speaker, Salt Lake Community College is this year's winner.
SLCC will have maverick documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock give the commencement address to its graduating class of 2011, in a ceremony on May 5 at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.
Spurlock is famous for documentaries in which he puts himself into the experience — whether it's going on an all-McDonalds diet in "Super Size Me," following the trail of a terrorist in "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" or snagging advertising and product placement to make a point about advertising in movies in his latest, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" (or, as its full title says, "POM Wonderful Presents 'The Greates Movie Ever Sold'").
Here is a list (mostly compiled by the Tribune's Brian Maffly) of the speakers other Utah colleges and universities are bringing in to impart their wisdom and advice on a new crop of future job-seekers:
Brigham Young University: Richard Scott, member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Dixie State College: Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (May 2)
University of Utah: Mitch Albom, sportswriter, author of "Tuesdays With Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."
Utah State University: John Wilkerson, venture capitalist, arts patron and USU alumnus. (Pending faculty approval.)
Utah Valley University: Robert Gay, investment manager, philanthropist, co-founder of BYU's Center for Economic Self Reliance, member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Seventy. (April 29)
Weber State University: Michael O. Leavitt, former Utah governor and Health and Human Services secretary.
For those of you keeping score, this year's tally is: White males 7, everybody else 0.
UPDATE: Make that 8-0. Westminster College will have billionaire software creator Bruce Bastian as its commencement speaker. The Tribune's Bryan Maffly argues, "He might be as cool as Spurlock. Coolest Utahn, at least."