ESCANABA — Bay College has announced the 2025 Commencement Speaker Competition. The winner of this competition will deliver their speech to the graduates and guests of Bay College’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony. All entries must be submitted by April 1.

To enter, a Bay College student must submit their speech in document form by April 1st to Dr. Renee Strom, Arts & Letters faculty member, via email: 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, finalists will be contacted by Dr. Strom 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 on May 10. The second-place winner will receive $50.