Letter Delivers Bill

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/25/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the June 26 commencement address to graduates of Manhattan's Professional Performing Arts School, reports New York's Daily News, because student Sophia Velez, 17, wrote and asked him to. Actually, Velez pointed out that the public school stuck by Clinton even as he was being "attacked at every corner . . . I have watched and read about you religiously this year, and have highly respected your strengths and strategies." When she heard that Clinton accepted her invitation, "I completely freaked out," she said. "It was such a dream come true."