今年的毕业季,女性大放异彩

This graduation season, the podium is all hers.

又是一年毕业季，今年上台的全是「她」。

For the first time in at least two decades, the majority of the nation’s top colleges are featuring women as their spring commencement speakers, a shift that industry experts credit to the wave of female empowerment that has fueled the #MeToo movement.

20年来头一遭，今年全国大部分顶尖院校的毕业典礼的演讲者都是女性。在业内专家看来，这种变化是因为今年的#MeToo掀起了女性赋权运动的高潮。

Yale is bringing Hillary Clinton. MIT will host Sheryl Sandberg. Vanderbilt landed Amal Clooney, while Dartmouth chose Mindy Kaling.

耶鲁请来了 Hillary Clinton ，麻省理工邀请了Sheryl Sandberg，Vanderbilt请了Amal Clooney，而Dartmouth选择了Mindy Kaling。

Overall, women account for nearly 60 percent of the speakers at the 25 schools that have the largest endowments and traditionally carry the clout to draw big names to the lectern. By contrast, women made up just a quarter of the speakers at those schools over the previous 19 years, according to an Associated Press analysis of university records.

总的来看，女性在25所顶尖大学的演讲者中占了60%。与之相比，在前19年中，女性只占演讲者的四分之一。

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.

负责演讲事务的公司表示，在#MeToo运动一路从好莱坞到国会山揭发性骚扰行为的时候，对女性演讲者的需求一下子变多了。

“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, Tennessee, 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.”

「有一股巨大的推力在推动白人女性和黑人女性——而不是白人男性，」田纳西州演讲公司负责人 Richard Schelp 说，「我们正在努力开发资源。」当地有40%来自学校和其他客户的订单都要求女性。

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.

一所AP联系到的学校表示 #MeToo运动并没有直接影响学校的选择，但是有人说，可能是学生们的意志影响了最终的决定。许多学校从一年前就在物色人选，学校间在相互竞争能让毕业生和新生印象深刻的演讲者。

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, Austin.

今年的演讲者有来自政界、商界、体育界和艺术界的女性，有许多人都显示出了超越性别的特性。电影导演Ava DuVernay将是第一个在Cornell演讲的有色人种女性，Raquel Bono 是美国海军副司令，也是一名女性菲律宾裔美国人，将在德克萨斯州立大学演讲。

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.

毕业典礼将在下周陆续举行，专家表示学生们可能会听到关于平等、包容性等议题的演讲，这些议题在过去被认为过于尖锐。

“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.”

「因为我们有需求，我觉得她们讲这些内容应该很得心应手，」Greater Talent Network 的CEO Don Epstein 说，「公众终于听够了，想听点别的了。」

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

除开这些有钱的学校，今年的许多其他大学毕业典礼演讲嘉宾也是女性。

Queen Latifah is headed to Rutgers University’s Newark campus. 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.

Queen Latifah 将去Rutgers大学Newark校区，Wesleyan 大学将会接受Anita Hill的箴言，她已经成为了#MeToo的标志性人物，因为她1991年起诉最高法院候选人Clarence Thomas性骚扰。

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.

这与过去几年只能看到寥寥几位女性演讲者的情况相比截然不同。以2007年为例，在25所最有钱的大学里，只有2名女性。在2003年，8所藤校没有一名女性。

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.

大学们纷纷表示自己也想争取多样性，但是能讲的就那几个人，竞争太激烈了，虽然最近几年越来越多的女性也开始涉足演讲领域，但专家表示男性数量依旧更多。

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

邀请公众人物来演讲也会带来高昂的花费——有时候甚至能到 $100,000——这就使得有些学校找校友或其他不收费的人。

Still, some schools have brought far fewer women than their peers. A handful of colleges have brought just three in the past two decades, including Harvard University and the universities of Notre Dame, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

但是，有的学校请过的女性还是比其他学校要少。一大把学校过去20年里就请过两三个女性，其中就包括哈佛和圣母大学、还有密歇根大学和宾夕法尼亚大学。

Notre Dame officials said they look for a mix of speakers but are sometimes thwarted by scheduling conflicts. Still, they showcase diversity in other ways, spokesman Dennis Brown said. Class valedictorians, who also speak at graduation, have been women five of the past 10 years, he said.

圣母大学的官员说也希望有不同的人来演讲，但和人家的时间安排有冲突。不过他们在其他方面显示出来自己的多样性，发言人Dennis Brown说道。毕业生代表的演讲人中，该校10年有五位是女性，他说。

“Our graduates do hear from a variety of voices, including women and people of color,” he said.

「我们的毕业生确实听到了不同人的声音，有女性也有有色人种。」他说。

In cases where schools don’t have speakers at their university-wide graduation ceremonies, the AP analysis counted less formal class day or senior day speeches that are typically organized by students. Yale, which has brought five women to its class day over the past 20 years, said administrators usually play only a small role.

也有非全校规模的毕业典礼，AP的分析人员认为，还有由学生组织的没有那么正式的班级日或者毕业生日演讲。在耶鲁，过去20年的班级日演讲者中有五位女性，这种宴会学校管理人员不太干涉。

A few colleges have brought a rough balance of men and women in recent decades. At Dartmouth College and Duke University, women account for 40 percent of spring speakers since 1999. Dartmouth officials attribute it to a wide pool of successful female graduates, along with some scheduling luck.

有一部分学校在最近十年里演讲者男女人数大致持平。在Dartmouth学院和Duke大学，从1999年至今女性演讲者占40%。Dartmouth官员认为这是因为学校有很多事业有成的女性校友，而且双方时间不冲突。

At Vanderbilt, which has been bringing speakers for 15 years, 60 percent have been women. Provost Susan Wente credits the committee of students that helps pick finalists.

在Vanderbilt，15年来邀请的演讲者，有60%都是女性。院长Susan Wente觉得这是因为挑选最终人选的是学生组织的委员会。

“That student advisory group is diverse amongst itself,” she said. “They have consistently produced a slate of finalists that are also diverse.”

「这些学生团体本身成员就很多样化，」她说，「所以一直以来他们挑选出来的候选人也很多样。」

Epstein, whose company worked with about 30 college commencements this year, said demand for women has been growing over the last year — and is still mounting as schools begin planning for next year.

Epstein 的公司今年和30所院校合作组织开学典礼，他说，对女性的需求从去年开始就在上升——从学校为下一年做的准备来看，这个趋势仍在上升。

“I think we’re just scratching the surface here,” he said. “This is not a flash in the pan. This is a long-term issue that’s going to be around for a long time, until there’s real equality.”

「我觉得，我们只是隔靴搔痒，」他说，「这不是灵光一现，这将是一个长期的过程，什么时候真的平等了，什么时候停。」