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By Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a senior writer for EW and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio -- he has the tote bag to prove it

It's been a Neil Diamond-studded week. In addition to a new promo for The Caroline Rhea Show and a May 18 SNL cameo singing with longtime impersonator Will Ferrell, the 61-year-old crooner made an unbilled appearance at New York University's May 16 graduation (below). The 1962 NYU dropout, who received an honorary degree in 1995, performed a mater-loving ditty called ''Forever NYU'' (sample lyric: ''It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor or/Black, tan, red, or white/Jewish or Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or more''). After first inviting Diamond four or five months ago, outgoing president L. Jay Oliva says, ''Two days before commencement he called me and said, 'I've got a song and I'll be there.''' Applauding grads may have just been grateful he didn't sing selections from Jonathan Livingston Seagull.


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Posted May 31, 2002 | Published in issue #656 May 31, 2002 | Order Article Reprints