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Class of 2001 to get spirited send-off from Puerto Rico's first woman governor

As BU seniors prepare to blaze new trails in the world beyond the Charles River Campus, they'll hear from a woman who has been busy blazing a few of her own. Sila Calderón, the first woman governor of Puerto Rico, will be the featured speaker at the University's 128th Commencement exercises, to be held at 11 a.m. May 20 on Nickerson Field.

	Puerto Rico Governor Sila Calderón speaks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld before a meeting in the Pentagon on February 27. Calderón and a delegation from Puerto Rico were meeting with Rumsfeld to discuss Navy training on the island of Vieques. Photo by R. D. Ward

"I am pleased to say that you will be addressed by one of the most remarkable political leaders in the Americas," President Jon Westling said in announcing the speaker at the annual Senior Brunch May 4. "In the Western Hemisphere, one finds, of course, a very astonishing range of cultures. But in one respect the political landscape is rather homogeneous. All but two of the governments on the two continents are led by men. It seems fitting, then, that the first female graduation speaker in the University's history should also be the first woman to lead her people. And it is with great pride that I announce that the speaker at the University's Commencement exercises in 2001 is Her Excellency Sila M. Calderón, governor of Puerto Rico."

In only four months as leader of the self-governing U.S. commonwealth, Calderón has earned a reputation for independent-mindedness. She has rejected her predecessor's push for U.S. statehood and has spoken out against the U.S. Navy's bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques -- a controversy that has kept her name prominent in the American press.

Calderón's landslide election comes at a time of relative prosperity for Puerto Rico. Income tax revenues have nearly doubled in the past 10 years, and the unemployment rate has dropped by half in the past 15. Calderón hopes to encourage those trends, strongly advocating restoration by the U.S. Congress of tax incentives meant to attract investment to the island. Her campaign platform also called for an end to domestic corruption, better services for the poor, and the improvement of Puerto Rico's water system and infrastructure.

"Calderón remains wildly popular among Puerto Ricans," says Andrew Jacobs, the New York Times reporter who has been covering the Vieques situation. "They seem to appreciate her guts, her honesty, and her promise to clean up local corruption."

Westling predicted that "our Commencement speaker will have very notable, perhaps even controversial, insights into relations between the United States and her neighbors."

Calderón has enjoyed success in both the public and private sectors, serving as Puerto Rico's secretary of the interior and secretary of state, and as a vice president of Citibank. Prior to her election as governor, she was mayor of San Juan.

One of Calderón's three grown children, Sila Gonzalez, is a 1990 alumna of the BU School of Law.

Westling also announced that this year's Baccalaureate sermon will be given by the Reverend Nicholas C. Triantafilou, president of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline. He will speak in Marsh Chapel at 9 a.m. on the day of Commencement. Both Calderón and Triantafilou will receive honorary degrees from the University at the general Commencement exercises.

The entire Commencement ceremony will be webcast, allowing alumni, family members of graduates, and others from around the world to view the ceremony as it happens. The URL is www.bu.edu/commencement.

11 May 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations