Last year's speaker was Annie Leibovitz, who has been having some financial difficulties this year. "You are starting out in a career at a very different time. And it's important that you not be afraid," she told the graduating class last May. "Although I suppose you can take heart in that you are not graduating from Harvard Business School. Those guys have real career dilemmas."

She added later: "As a member of the graduating class of FIT today, you are at a turning point in your life. Graduation is a turning point in everyone's life. But what is unusual about your position is that everyone else who works in the worlds of magazines and advertising and fashion is also at a turning point, not just the new graduates in the field. We're all in this together."

Hopefully, Ms. Garcia will deliver some brighter news.