Spelman College announced Friday, March 25, that First Lady Michelle Obama will give the commencement speech to the 2011 graduating class. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 15, at 3 pm at the Georgia Convention Center in College Park, Ga.
“Having Mrs. Obama as our 2011 commencement speaker is a true honor because she embodies the Spelman College mission, which is to prepare women to change the world in a meaningful way,” Spelman President Beverly Tatum said in a statement. “I know our students will be inspired by her powerful presence.”
Sisters Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad will receive honorary degrees along with Mrs. Obama. Teach for America founder, Wendy Kopp, will receive an award for community service.
Long ranked one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, Spelman is the country’s oldest historically black college for women. For more than a century, Spelman has been a collegiate proving ground for both students and faculty. Since young women of color are in preparation mode from the moment they begin their educations until their graduation ceremonies, rolling out decided to conduct an informal office poll for suggestions for future commencement speakers:
1. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia
2. Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, the first African American woman to head a Fortune 500 company
3. Jennifer Carrol, lieutenant governor of Florida
4. Shirley Sherrod, former Georgia state director of rural development for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
5. Oprah Winfrey, media mogul and owner of OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)
6. Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
7. Carol Simpson, former ABC News anchor
8. Tiffany Dufu, president, The White House Project
9. The Right Reverend Bishop Barbara L. King, Hillside International Chapel & Truth Center
10. Robin Roberts, co-anchor, “Good Morning America”
–a. robinson
