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Following last month's visit by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - the latest in the Sacerdote Series Great Names at Hamilton - the Alumni Programs Office circulated an e-mail to the Hamilton community asking for ideas and suggestions for future speakers.

Some 253 responses were tallied, and, as you might expect, the list was diverse. Because many factors are considered when Great Names speakers are selected, respondents are reminded that there are no guarantees on who will be the next invitee. Here is a summary of those on the radar screen:

The big winner is former President Bill Clinton with 30 votes, followed by his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, with 16. Rounding out the list of those who received more than 10 votes is Secretary of State Colin Powell (who, by the way, was Hamilton's first Great Names speaker back in April 1996), Indian author Arundhati Roy and former President George H. Bush.

These nominees garnered more than two votes: Bill Cosby, Christopher Reeves, Ralph Nader, Oprah Winfrey, Toni Morrison, Lance Armstrong, Bono, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Spielberg, Tony Blair, Condie Rice, Steven Hawking, Kofi Annan, Gloria Steinem and Norm Chomsky.

Some people did not suggest specific individuals, but instead "no more politicians," "a musician" or "a man or woman of color."

The list of speakers who received one vote was lengthy.  Here are just a few representing the diverse range of suggestions: Tiger Woods, Ken Burns, Hulk Hogan, Paul Newman, Sandra Day O'Connor, Kurt Vonnegut, Gore Vidal, Dave Barry, Bob Dole, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Wayne Gretsky, Alan Greenspan, Geraldine Ferraro, the Dali Lama, Al Gore, Elizabeth Taylor, Dan Rather, Gracia Burnham, Newt Gingrich, Garrison Keillor, Whoopi Goldberg, Mel Brooks and Stephen King.

If reading this list sparked other ideas, please send them to Jon Hysell, director of alumni programs, at jahysell or Lisa Magnarelli, director of student activities, at lmagnare.

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