Anyway, I was struck by the differences in pride and prestige such ceremonies imply. I believe my high school even did better than Rice. My sister's Duke graduation featured an engaging and humorous speech by Tom Brokaw. Surely Rice can do better. I don't believe the answer lies in eliminating the speech altogether.
Rice simply needs to do a better job.
If we want to fashion ourselves in the same leagues as the Princetons and the Dukes, perhaps we should take a lesson from their behavior. It also did a great job of making me even more emphatic about my desire to not buy a copy of Hustler magazine. As Alan Isaacman said in the movie, what we're talking about is a matter of taste, not a matter of law. However, if the pictures were cartoons, not photographs, there's nothing legally wrong with showing them. They may be completely repulsive to the average citizen, but that fact has nothing to do with Larry Flynt's right to sell as many of those pictures as he wants.