The State - News from Feb. 27, 1986

Stanford University seniors wanted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as their commencement speaker this June but they will have to settle for television newsman Ted Koppel, an old grad. University President Donald Kennedy announced that ABC’s Koppel, who received his master’s degree in speech and drama from Stanford in 1962, has agreed to be the featured speaker at the school’s 95th commencement on June 15. Gorbachev was the popular choice of the student body to deliver the 1986 commencement address, with comedian Bill Cosby ranking second. The school confirmed that Cosby was approached on giving the address, but his representative said he had a conflicting engagement.