Michelle Obama will speak at City College's 170th commencement on June 3.
Previous notable speakers at CCNY include (clockwise) Hillary Clinton, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Bill Clinton and Coretta Scott King. Photos: WhiteHouse.gov, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, CCNY.
More than 40 years ago, Coretta Scott King became the first female commencement speaker in the history of The City College of New York when she addressed CCNY’s Class of 1971. Her charge to the graduates came eight years after her slain husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had delivered the commencement address to the Class of 1963.
City College’s tradition of notable commencement speakers continues on June 3, 2016, when Michelle Obama, the first African-American First Lady of the United States, speaks at the school’s 170th commencement exercises in Harlem.
The occasion is likely to be more than memorable for the Class of 2016, the college and surrounding community. That is because it will be Obama’s final commencement address as First Lady before she and her husband, President Barack Obama, leave the White House on January 20, 2017.
It also comes 17 years after one of her predecessors, Hillary Clinton, spoke to CCNY’s Class of 1999 and received the City College President’s Medal.
Clinton, currently a Democratic candidate for the White House, was followed to CCNY by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in 2004. He was the speaker and an honorary degree recipient at City College’s 158th commencement exercises.
Also on the dais with President Clinton that year was a distinguished trio of CCNY alumni comprising award-winning author Walter E. Mosley ’91, award-winning actor Richard Schiff ’83 and real estate developer Frank J. Sciame, Jr., ’74.
Click here for the latest information on City College’s 170th commencement exercises.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Science; Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; School of Education; Grove School of Engineering; Sophie Davis Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine; and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States.