The real world's just around the corner, the commencement ceremony should give graduates a poignant closure to their time at Marquette.Last year's speaker, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, carried just enough weight to let Marquette give itself a pat on the back.

While this speaker might have been enough for those who actually knew of her before she took the stage, Marquette once again needs to look to the trends set by small schools for big ideas.

Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., brought in Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in 2005 and comedian Stephen Colbert in 2006. This year, former President Bill Clinton will address the class of 2007.

Having a famous satirist followed by a former president is enough publicity for Knox, but Colbert took it further, joking on his show that Clinton was "stealing his thunder" by speaking at the same college.

Not only will Clinton be addressing Knox, he will also speak at the University of New Hampshire alongside former President George H.W. Bush. If UNH can get two former presidents, maybe Marquette can at least scrape by with a former vice president.

According to Brigid O'Brien Miller, director of university communication, Marquette's speakers are elected through the president's office, which will sometimes seek out student input in the selection process.

Knox's 1,300, –students vote on who they want to speak and administrators do their best to bring in the students' choice, said Karrie Heartlein, director of public relations at Knox.

"It's their commencement; we want it to be meaningful to them," Heartlein said. Knox also maintains a tradition of not paying speakers.

While an appearance from Clinton would get a little costly, Marquette – which does not share the tradition of gratis speakers – should dig a little deeper into its pockets to bring in someone of Colbert caliber.

It seems like we are constantly being one-upped by schools like Knox and UNH. Administrators must realize that bland speakers can't do anything to spice up Marquette.