Senior Michael Simonet has been chosen as the class of 2015’s commencement speaker after 15 students were nominated.

Simonet, who will deliver his speech to the graduating class on May 23 at O’Shaughnessy Stadium, said he is excited about the opportunity and believes it will be a valuable experience.

“I’m overwhelmed with the opportunity to speak to the graduating class and really also overwhelmed by the support I’ve received from the St. Thomas community,” Simonet said. “I’ve had freshman-year professors, old work colleagues emailing me and giving me congratulations and encouragement. It’s an amazing opportunity that I never thought I would be chosen for.”

Simonet was nominated a few weeks before spring break but does not know by whom. He then prepared a topic proposal with an outline of his speech to be presented to a selection committee composed of four faculty members and two students.

Each committee member had a week to rank all 15 candidates and suggest two nominees. Simonet and the other finalist were each given about a week to write their respective speeches before presenting them to the committee.

Although he didn’t share too many details of his speech, Simonet said it deals with the idea of privilege in society.

“It focuses on the idea of privilege as a responsibility to eliminate privilege,” he said. “To be a privileged individual means you have had opportunities that others have not, so you should use that to kind of help level the playing field for everybody.”

Simonet said his study abroad trip to South Africa this past January Term greatly impacted his choice of theme.

“It was a lot of hard conversations about what it means to have advantages that others do not,” he said. “I wanted to share that message with people, and when this commencement opportunity came up, I thought it was a great way to share what I learned through my trip in South Africa.”

Communication and journalism professor Debra Petersen, who is one of the selection committee members, said a big reason for choosing Simonet was his speech topic idea.

“We emphasize what a candidate’s academic experience has been since this is a commencement speech,” Petersen said. “One of the things with Michael’s speech is that his theme has to do with a study abroad experience. That was a really powerful part of his message.”

Petersen added that Simonet’s energy and enthusiasm also contributed to his appeal as commencement speaker.

“Then when he presented (the speech) to us … he has a ton of energy and enthusiasm and that really came through,” she said. “That was nice also.”

Senior Morgan Schreurs, a close friend of Simonet, agreed and said he is excited to give the speech.

“I think that energy and enthusiasm is sort of special because I think a lot of people can be enthusiastic and energetic, but (Simonet’s) is colored by a genuine goodness,” Schreurs said. “He is definitely energetic and enthusiastic about the speech.”

Simonet’s involvement around campus also bolstered his candidacy. He was a resident adviser in Cretin Hall his sophomore year and sat on the St. Thomas Activities and Recreation Board for two years. He is also on the executive board of the Pre-Law Society and is set to begin law school next fall at Loyola University in Chicago.

Simonet expects to gain one quality in particular through his speech.

“Probably a whole lot of bravery,” he said with a laugh.

Willie Faust can be reached at faus5612@stthomas.edu.