I graduate from UW in 2009. I know, it's only 2007, but I want to give UW plenty of time. In light of this year's debacle with the commencement speaker and from other news accounts I've read about bad commencement speakers, I want Greg Mortenson to be the commencement speaker in 2009. I just read his book "Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time" which chronicles Greg's efforts to build schools in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The idea is to fight terrorism, not with bombs, but with books. The schools Greg builds provide the young people an alternative to extremist madaris, raises the standard of living of these communities, in particular, by educating the girls, and demonstrates the good the American people can do. You can read more about the book and Greg at http://www.threecupsoftea.com/AboutBook.php.

To provide incentive to both Greg and UW, the money piled on will be donated to Greg's organization, the Central Asia Institute, to allow them to continue their mission.

Please pile on and show the university that Greg Mortenson, not some politician or actor, is the kind of person the students want to hear.