Samantha Griebel, the student speaker at the 2024 Bay College commencement.

ESCANABA — Bay College has begun the 2025 Commencement Speaker Competition, to choose a student to deliver a speech to the graduates and guests at Bay College’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony.

To enter, a Bay College student must submit the speech in document form by April 1 to Dr. Renee Strom, Arts & Letters faculty member, via email at renee.strom@baycollege.edu.

Each entry must include the student’s full name, contact email and telephone number. All entrants must be eligible to graduate by Summer 2025 and have applied for graduation. All speeches should be four to five minutes long when read aloud and should specifically address the new Bay College graduates.

It is also expected that all speeches be considerate and responsive to the sensitivities of general audiences.

Once all submissions have been considered, Strom will contact finalists to deliver their speech(es) to the Commencement Speaker Committee on April 15.

The winner of the competition will receive $100 and will deliver the speech at the graduation ceremony May 10. The second-place winner will receive $50.

Questions on the competition can be directed to Strom via phone at 906-217-4131 or by email at renee.strom@baycollege.edu.