Michelle to California Grads: We Need You

(AP) - Seniors at the University of California, Merced, couldn't rely on a wealthy and established network of alumni to reel in a famous commencement speaker. The UC system's newest campus has yet to graduate a full senior class and only has a handful of alumni. But that didn't keep this year's seniors from landing one of the most sought-after speakers of the season—first lady Michelle Obama. She'll speak on May 16. More»

Alexandra Petri weighs in on sometimes hard-to-hear truths

(NEWSER) - Wish you could ditch the inspirational commencement speech for something a bit more realistic? So does Alexandra Petri. But she wasn’t satisfied with Charles Wheelan’s recent list in the Wall Street Journal , “10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You,” because she kinda remembered hearing all of the observations it contained ... in commencement speeches. So, in the Washington Post , she offers up “the 10 things they really don’t tell you at graduation.”

• Get ready to be unemployed and living with mom and dad. She’s not trying to be cruel, just stating facts, she explains, and she has the statistics to prove it. Here's one: "29% of 25-to-34 year-olds live in what the poll-taker was kind enough to refer to as "multi-generational living arrangements" rather than "your old room with all the anime posters and Admiral Ackbar figures carelessly splayed on every surface."

First lady urges new alumni to stay involved

(NEWSER) - When Michelle Obama agreed to be George Washington University's commencement speaker, she challenged the school's 5,000 seniors to do 100,000 hours of community service. They completed 163,980 hours, reports the Washington Post , spurring the first lady to joke at today's ceremony that if she had known they were so motivated, "I probably would have picked a higher number." More»

Campuses a 'sanctuary for narrow ideology,' says conservative group

(NEWSER) - Leftist faculty and "politically correct" thinking at University of California campuses are giving students a dangerously unbalanced education, according to a study by an organization of conservative educators. Humanities departments in particular have been hijacked by a leftist agenda that merely teaches about minorities grievances, according to the report, "Crisis of Competence: The Corrupting Effect of Political Activism in the University of California," by the National Association of Scholars . Campuses have "become a sanctuary for a narrow ideological segment of the spectrum of political and social ideas," according to the report. UC officials, not surprisingly, disagree. More»

Protesters hit the street to rip rich regents

(NEWSER) - University of California students stormed a Bank of America branch in downtown San Francisco yesterday, pitched a tent and chanted, "Shame, shame, shame" before 100 of them were arrested and hauled out by city cops. The bank invasion was part of an afternoon of protest by students demonstrating against the UC regents, calling them rich tuition boosters who don't care about education. One of the regents is on the board of the Bank of America. Demonstrators had planned to target a meeting of the regents in the city, but officials canceled it, fearing violence. Those arrested will be charged with trespassing, notes the San Francisco Chronicle . More»