Female speakers at graduations on rise

at those schools over the previous 19 years, according to an Associated Press analysis of university records.

Companies that are hired to find speakers say they’ve seen a surge in requests for women at the same time that the #MeToo movement has shed light on sexual misconduct from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. Demand has grown so quickly that some say they’re struggling to keep up.

“There’s been a much bigger push to bring in white females, black females — anyone other than a white male,” said Richard Schelp, owner of Executive Speakers Bureau in Memphis, Tenn., where 40 percent of recent booking requests from schools and other clients have been for women. “We’re digging deep into our reservoir of resources.”

Schools contacted by the AP said the #MeToo movement didn’t directly influence their decisions, but some said it might have been on the minds of students who help pick finalists. Many start looking for speakers more than a year in advance, competing for prominent figures that will impress alumni and prospective students.

Speakers chosen this year include women from politics, business, athletics and the arts, and many reflect diversity beyond their gender. Film director Ava DuVernay will be the first woman of color to give Cornell’s speech in a decade. Raquel Bono, a vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and a Filipina American, will speak at the University of Texas at Austin.

As ceremonies unfold in coming weeks, experts say graduates can expect to hear speeches on equality, inclusivity and other topics that might have been seen as too thorny in the past.

“Because there’s so much demand out there, I think they’re much more comfortable talking about this,” said Don Epstein, CEO of the Greater Talent Network, a New York agency owned by United Talent Agency. “The public is finally saying enough, we want to hear about it.”

Outside the richest schools, many of this year’s marquee speakers are also women.

Rutgers University’s Newark campus landed Queen Latifah. Wesleyan University in Connecticut will hear from Anita Hill, who has become a #MeToo icon for her 1991 testimony accusing then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

It’s a stark contrast with past years that saw few female speakers. In 2007, for example, only two of the 25 richest schools chose women. In 2003, none of the eight Ivy League schools did.

Colleges say they strive for diversity but face tough competition for a small pool of speakers. And while more women have joined the speaking industry in recent years, experts say they remain widely outnumbered by men.

Bringing celebrity speakers can carry a hefty cost — upward of $100,000 — leading many schools to seek alumni or others who won’t charge a fee.

BEBETO MATTHEWS/AP 2017 Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney spoke Thursday to graduates at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.