From left to right: Joe Tessitore, Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears and Paul Finebaum broadcast ‘SEC Nation’ live from the Grove before the Ole Miss-Tennessee football game in fall 2014. Photo by Win Graham.
OXFORD, Miss. – Popular college sports commentator Paul Finebaum will address the University of Mississippi School of Law’s class of 2015 at its graduation ceremony, which is set for 11 a.m. May 9 in the Grove.
The law school officially announced Finebaum’s selection as graduation speaker Tuesday.
“We eagerly anticipate hearing Paul Finebaum, along with the president of the Mississippi Bar and the president of our graduating class,” said Richard Gershon, law school dean. “We invited Paul Finebaum because of the law school’s expertise in sports law – we have the only sports law journal in the SEC, we have a thriving sports law student society and we have several excellent sports law courses.”
Finebaum will provide a fresh perspective that will be useful to graduates entering the legal profession, Gershon said.
“Mr. Finebaum will provide the important perspective of a non-lawyer on why the law matters to real people and to communities,” he said. “He will also help to put the law in perspective – sports has the capacity to draw us together; shouldn’t the law achieve the same lofty goal?
“Mr. Finebaum also has a keen understanding of how sports can divide us. But in sports, we manage our fervor because we all understand sportsmanship – no victory holds value unless achieved honorably. Wouldn’t we all feel like better citizens if we could say the same thing about politics and the law?”
Finebaum, an SEC Network analyst, is a Memphis native. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a political science degree in 1978 and began a career as a newspaper reporter. His Southeastern Conference-heavy sports radio show, which is also televised on the SEC Network, is hugely popular. He’s one of the most respected voices in the realm of college football commentary and his sportswriting has also won more than 250 national, regional and area awards.
He was live from the Grove for a broadcast of “SEC Nation” before the Ole Miss football game against Tennessee in October.
More information about the university’s commencement will be released as the event approaches.