Apparently, former Vice President Joe Biden is busy.
Six months after Rutgers University asked Biden to speak at its graduation ceremony, school officials announced PayPal president and chief executive officer Dan Schulman will be the commencement speaker.
The Rutgers Board of Governors voted Tuesday to award an honorary degree to Schulman at the May 13 ceremony on the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus. Schulman, who grew up in Princeton, was previously a member of the Rutgers board.
Rutgers officials privately asked Biden to serve as commencement speaker before he appeared on campus in October to give a speech about his campaign to raise awareness about sexual assault.
Biden told students waiting to take selfies with him after the speech that he had been invited to be the commencement speaker in May, but wasn't sure if he could attend.
He later turned down the Rutgers invite.
"Former Vice President Joseph Biden was unable to attend the May 13 commencement ceremony. We are thrilled he came to Rutgers in October to rally students around the It's On Us campaign aimed at ending sexual assault on college campuses," Dory Devlin, a Rutgers spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
Schulman will speak at the Rutgers football stadium in Piscataway, which hosts the main commencement ceremony for the New Brunswick campus.
Rutgers previously announced Queen Latifah, the Newark-born actress and hip-hop star, will speak at Rutgers-Newark graduation ceremony. Anita Hill, the law professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, will speak at Rutgers-Camden's ceremony.
Previous Rutgers commencement speakers include former President Barack Obama, musician Steven Van Zandt and author Toni Morrison.
Rutgers has paid some of its previous commencement speakers, including Van Zandt, a $35,000 honorarium. Schulman will not be paid an honorarium for this year's speech, Devlin said.
Schulman, 60, reportedly earned more than $19 million in stock and compensation from PayPal in 2016.
The veteran business executive has deep Rutgers ties. His mother was an associate dean at Rutgers.
He began his career at AT&T and later went on to leadership roles at Priceline, Virgin Mobil and Sprint Nextel.
Schulman will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the ceremony. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president emerita and former CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
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