NEW BRUNSWICK -- Rutgers University students won't have to wait much longer to find out who will speak at the 2017 commencement ceremony. 

The university Board of Governors is scheduled to vote at a 1 p.m. meeting Wednesday on commencement speakers for the New Brunswick and Camden campuses. 

Last year, Rutgers landed President Barack Obama as the speaker for its flagship New Brunswick campus. While university officials haven't given any indication of who will speak this year, they have identified one big name who won't. 

Ellen DeGeneres, a favorite among some students, wasn't eligible for 2017 because she wasn't nominated in the university's formal process for selecting commencements speakers, Rutgers said last month.

A group of students had created a video and launched a petition to bring DeGeneres to Rutgers, but students will need to officially nominate DeGeneres for 2018 if they want the university to pursue her as speaker, spokeswoman Karen Smith said.

Rutgers previously announced that Eboo Patel, chief executive officer of the Interfaith Youth Core, will deliver the keynote address at Rutgers-Newark's commencement on May 17. 

The Rutgers-New Brunswick ceremony will be held May 14 at High Point Solutions Stadium. 

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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