“We went into this realizing that most people on the list are extremely busy and have hectic schedules,” said Chad G. Callaghan ’02, first class vice president.

Robby J. Bershow ’02, who has an autographed poster of Franken on his bedroom wall, said he was elated by the choice.

“I really wasn’t a big fan of the other candidates, and I’m glad they went with someone funny for Class Day,” Bershow said.

Incidentally, graduation advice is the subject of Franken’s latest book, Oh, the Things I Know!: A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness, which will be released soon. “It’s a good thing,” he joked, “because [the speech] dovetails well with my book promotion.”

As a political satirist, Franken has appeared on countless talk shows and is a regular guest on ABC’s “Politically Incorrect.” And at his own Class Day in 1973, the young comedian delivered the Ivy Speech, traditionally a humorous speech by a student, before playwright Arthur Miller delivered the keynote address.

Franken said that this time around he might keep things simple and deliver the exact same speech.

“No, I’m joking,” he said. “I’m just going to thank everybody for my honorary doctorate.”

Franken expects to dole out a healthy dose of graduation wisdom.

“I’ll give some good advice,” he said, “but I’ll also give a little bad advice, just to keep people on their toes, so they don’t lose those valuable critical skills they learned at Harvard.”