Recent commencement speakers at Howard University include Barack Obama, John Lewis, and Jesse Jackson. This year's selection: Puffy.

Now look, I am not one to insinuate that Puffy is not a "serious" commencement speaker because he is involved in hip hop. Nor would I ever argue, as many are, that Puffy should be shunned because he is a Howard dropout. Anyone who ever stood in the registration lines at Howard will tell you that dropping out of Howard often seems like the only sane choice. But it is not unreasonable to ask: Could Howard University, America's most prominent HBCU, have gotten a better commencement speaker than Puffy? A few potential alternates chosen from the pool of Howard alumni:

-Ras Baraka

-Toni Morrison

-Elijah Cummings

-Sonia Sanchez

-A good rapper

Something to think about.

[Photo: AP]