The university Faculty Executive Committee voted last week to invite James B. Stewart '73, a Pulitzer-prize winner and former Page One Editor of the Wall Street Journal, to deliver the 2012 commencement address.
Stewart, who had yet to receive notice of the invitation, said he was "humbled" by the news.
"If the invitation materializes, I think it's safe to say I would consider it a great honor," he said.
Executive Director of Media Relations Ken Owen said he will be a strong speaker and an appropriate representative of DePauw.
"For a place that graduated a couple of the greatest journalists of the last 150 years, to celebrate someone like Jim Stewart, who is really a modern day equivalent of Barney Kilgore," Owen said. "It's a perfect fit."
President Brian Casey said senior student senators approached him with their selection, and he agreed that Stewart would be an "excellent choice."
Casey noted that Stewart has received an honorary degree from DePauw University as well as several other honors.
Executive Assistant to the President Betsy Demmings has worked with the committee resposible for choosing commencement speakers for over a decade and has seen certain trends in the selection process.
Among the trends, Demmings said seniors frequently request national figures including presidents and television stars before arriving at final choices that are closer to home. Demmings said the president often guides senators toward speakers who have an understanding of DePauw.
"In the past we've had speakers from outside that ... came here and delivered a canned speech that had nothing to do with our students and was a horrible disaster," Demmings said. "[President Casey] usually tries to guide them to somebody that cares about DePauw and can give some good, really meaningful remarks because they've been where these students are as they graduate."
Stewart said his time at DePauw fostered his interest in journalism and his work with The DePauw inspired him to consider journalism as a profession.
"Until then, I thought of a journalism as an extracurricular activity ... like French club or student council," Stewart said. "While I was at DePauw, I realized it actually could be a career."
After DePauw, Stewart graduated from Harvard Law School. He is currently a business columnist for The New York Times and has been a regular contributor to the New Yorker magazine.
