MILLOR ORATOR

In honor of the late Reverend William J. Millor, S.J., who served the University in a variety of posts over twenty-eight years, representatives of the senior class, the Student Union president, and the president of Alpha Sigma Nu, along with a panel of faculty, staff, and administrators, each year select a member of the undergraduate graduating class to be the lone student presenter at the commencement ceremony. The Millor Orator is chosen from a pool of senior applicants who desire to be chosen as the only student speaker at graduation. Each applicant submits a written speech and other accompanying materials, and is judged based upon involvement on and off campus, leadership, and commitment to learning, as well as content, knowledge and identification of the University's mission. Speeches should, at a minimum, loosely incorporate or reflect the Jesuit mission of John Carroll University. Applicants are also reminded that they will be acting as a representative of the graduating class, and thus should consider including shared experiences in his/her speech. Finalists audition their speeches in front of the aforementioned panel of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, who then choose the best student on the basis of speech content, knowledge and identification of the Jesuit mission, and poise and presentation.

Applicants must be graduating and participating in the commencement exercises on May 23, 2010.

Applications are made available at the end of the fall semester and are typically due during the middle of the spring semester.

Questions about the Millor Orator application or selection process can be directed to Rachel Ball, Graduate Assistant in the Office of Student Activities, at rball12@jcu.edu.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2009 MILLOR ORATOR, SAMANTHA LARK COCCO!

Samantha Cocco offered the 2009 Millor Orator Address at Commencement Exercises held on a beautiful Sunday, May 17, 2009 on the John Carroll University Quadrangle. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. A native of Poland, Ohio, Samantha was extraordinarily active on campus. She was intimately involved with The Labre Project, Campus Ministry retreats, Take Back the Night, and Every Two Minutes. Samantha was also the co-founder of World View Magazine and a three-year member on the leadership team of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, including a role as the co-chairperson. She participated, coordinated, and served as a work study assistant for a number of immersion experiences. Sam was honored with the Danford Award and the Outstanding Student Leader Award at the end of her senior year. After graduation, Samantha will begin a two-year stint with Jesuit Volunteers International (JVI) teaching English, theology, math, and music on the Island of Pohnpei in Micronesia.

To read the text of Samantha's 2009 Millor Orator Address, click here (available in pdf format).

Millor Orators 1977 - 2009

To read the text of that year's Millor Orator Address, click on a name beginning in 2004.