NOTING THE KEYS
by Martha Sadler
Lynn Scarlett — the acting secretary of the Interior — will be
the commencement speaker at UCSB’s Donald Bren School of
Environmental Science and Management, a choice regarded by some as
ironic given environmentalists’ outspoken criticism of the Bush
administration. Active in Carpinteria’s Libertarian Party before
going on to the presidency of the libertarian Reason Foundation and
government posts, Scarlett earned her BA, MA, and doctorate in
political science at UCSB. Scarlett’s official position is
assistant secretary, though she has been acting as head of the
Interior since former secretary Gail Norton resigned in March in
the wake of the bribery scandals surrounding lobbyist Jack
Abramoff. According to a Bren School faculty member who asked not
to be identified, the invitation — which was extended by the
school’s dean when he met Scarlett in Washington — does “not
necessarily reflect our overall agreement with the policy of the
U.S. Department of the Interior,” but does signal an attempt to
“reach out and make a difference at the highest levels of
government.”
Other masters of industry and government who will address some
4,800 graduates between June 11 and 18 include William Perry, who
served as former president Clinton’s secretary of Defense, speaking
to the College of Engineering and Science; Nancy Ann Harvey,
TenFold Corporation CEO and UCSB alumna, speaking to the College of
Creative Studies; and Fred Gluck, former managing partner of the
international management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.,
speaking to the departments of science and math. Elizabeth Gabler,
president of Fox 2000 Pictures, will speak Sunday at the Humanities
and Fine Arts commencement. In the social sciences department, the
two speakers will be Wilma Mankiller, executive director and former
chief of the Cherokee Nation, and William Strickland, CEO of the
nonprofit vocational training giant Manchester Bidwell Corporation.
Speaking at the graduate division ceremony will be a MacArthur
Foundation “genius” grant recipient, MIT materials science
professor, and UCSB alumna Angela Belcher.
