Past Speaker Contest Winners

2021 Winners:  Chidinma Agbo (Product Design),  Alice Ballard-Rossiter (Management Science and Engineering), Gracie Newman (English)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHIOR4rml8

Chidinma Agbo

Chidinma is a senior from Norwalk, California majoring in Product Design. In her studies, Chidi focuses on using human-centered design to bring meaning, joy, and new experiences into other people's worlds. While on The Farm, Chidi has found joy in volunteering with organizations such as TeachAids, as well as in serving on the exec teams for groups like NAIJA (Nigerian Students’ Association) and Design for America. Outside of Stanford, she enjoys engaging with her right brain as much as possible, dividing much of her time between creating digital art and working in TV/Film development. In her free time, Chidi enjoys gardening, heading on road trips, and watching Survivor. After graduation, she will be returning to the LA area, hoping to launch an executive-level career in TV development and work toward bringing underrepresented voices to the forefront. 

Alice Ballard-Rossiter

Alice is a senior from London, England, majoring in Management Science and Engineering with a specialization in Organizations, Technology and Policy. Entering Stanford, she took classes in everything from Painting and Psychology to Computer Science and Bioengineering. Outside of the classroom, she is passionate about social impact, entrepreneurship and elevating women in STEM. Some particular communities that have made her time at Stanford special are SENSA (Social Entrepreneurship Association), Stanford Women in Finance, her freshman dorm Otero, and the faculty at Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP). Upon graduation, she will be working as an Investment Banking Analyst and in the future she hopes to become a diplomat, using her experience at Stanford to advocate on others' behalf and improve foreign policy

Gracie Newman

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Gracie is majoring in English and minoring in Political Science and French. Her extracurricular interests include comedy, visual art, and marine conservation. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, swimming in the ocean, and quoting Foucault inappropriately. Next year, she will be obtaining an MFA in Fiction from the Michener Center at The University of Texas at Austin. She hopes to one day be an author and to expand access to the literary arts for underserved communities.

2019 Winner: Edan Armas

Text: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/06/15/text-student-edan-armas-2019-baccalaureate-speech/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbXxlcrlUec

2018 Winner: Eni Jonathan Asebiomo

Text: https://news.stanford.edu/2018/06/16/text-student-eni-asebiomos-2018-baccalaureate-speech/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVzCE5ct7oQ

2017 Winner: Emma Coleman (International Relations and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity)

Text: https://news.stanford.edu/2017/06/17/prepared-text-student-emma-colemans-baccalaureate-speech/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5VejEWZKcU

2016 Winner: Zainab Taymuree (African and African American Studies)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/2016/06/11/prepared-text-student-zainab-taymurees-baccalaureate-speech/

Video: https://youtu.be/_gbFfHM64vQ#t=52m12s

2015 Winner: Shelby Sinclair (Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/student-baccalaureate-text-061315.html

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SsfL14xwbc

2014 Konstantine Buhler (Management Science and Engineering)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/june/student-baccalaureate-text-061414.html

Video: http://youtu.be/hN9p__BHHDs

2013 Jonathan York (International Relations)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/june/york-baccalaureate-speech-061513.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnfm1Eb5BHQ

2012 Tara Gu (Public Policy)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/baccalaureate-student-text-061612.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YsRPpeSt7s

2011 Samuel Gould (Biology)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtCmfVAcw0

2010 Zaid Adhami (Philosophy, Religious Studies)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7cfaG9j26A

2009 Sohail Razzaq (Economics, Management Science & Engineering (MS))

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/razzaq-text-061709.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RwmymaeZx0

2008 Barry W. Fischer (Economics, Civil and Engineering (MS))

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/june18/bacbarry-061808.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuL7qreqHuE

2007 Nikki Pareno Serapio (Political Science)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/june20/bactwo-062007.html

2006 Marley Cade Kornreic (Economics, International Relations)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2006/june21/bacckorntext-062106.html

2005 Jazib Zahir (Electrical Engineering)

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/zahir-061505.html