The class of 2009 had Obama, but Arizona State University's class of 2010 is recruiting the leader of a different sort of nation to deliver their commencement address:
The Colbert Nation.
More than 3,000 ASU students have joined a group on Facebook with the goal of landing Stephen Colbert and his mammoth satirical ego as the commencement speaker for the 2010 graduation ceremony
"After President Obama delivered the speech for the class of 2009, I felt that my class, the class of 2010, deserved someone who was just as influential," says Jessica Aguilar, co-founder of the Facebook petition, "Stephen Colbert seemed like the obvious choice."
Aguilar, a self-proclaimed "flaming liberal, who loves the 'right-winged' comedian," says she wants ASU to make as much noise as possible in its campaign to bring the late-night linguist, who invented words like "truthiness," to ASU.
"Stephen is a fan of the Internet, let's get his attention electronically first," she says.
The goal, according to Aguilar, is to appeal to Colbert's massive ego, and present the challenge of filling Sun Devil stadium to its 73,000 person capacity with the same fervor that President Obama sparked with his address in 2009.
What students should expect if Colbert, a former presidential candidate, whose campaign was sponsored by Doritos, were to accept the offer, is another story.
Time Magazine ranked Colbert's 2006 commencement address to Knox College as one of the top 10 commencement speeches of all time. Others on the list are John F. Kennedy, and Winston Churchill.
The speech, while spurring the occasional chuckle, was a far cry from the hilarious rants about the danger of bears often found on The Colbert Report, but rather an inspiring message to graduates about to enter the real world; or as Jessica Aguilar calls it, "The Colbert Nation."
If he were to accept the unofficial invitation, the real test for Colbert's ego will be coaxing ASU President Michael Crow into giving him an honorary degree, an honor Crow felt was not yet warranted by the sitting president who gave the speech last year.
