Home Notice Box Top Stories Central State set for commencement Saturday

Central State set for commencement Saturday

0

WILBERFORCE — Central State University will hold its 136th commencement at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 13 at McPherson Stadium.

More than 500 students will receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, and the John W. Garland College of Engineering, Science, Technology, and Agriculture.

“This year’s commencement holds special significance” said Central State University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. F. Erik Brooks. “We’re excited that our first class of MBA students will graduate from the College of Business.”

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, one of the nation’s distinguished professors, gifted writers, and prominent media personality, and Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, president emeritus of Central State University, will be awarded honorary doctorate degrees.

Dyson will also serve as commencement speaker.

As a teacher who earned a PhD in religion from Princeton University, Dyson has taught at some of the nation’s most distinguished universities, including Brown, UNC Chapel Hill, Columbia, DePaul, the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown University.

He is presently distinguished university professor of African-American and diaspora studies, College of Arts & Science, and distinguished university professor of ethics and society, The Divinity School; and NEH centennial chair at Vanderbilt University.

Dyson is one of America’s premier public intellectuals and author of more than 25 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers. His esteemed literary output won him the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal, which in the past was awarded to James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and August Wilson. Dyson has also won an American Book Award, a Southern Book Award, and two NAACP Image Awards.

Dyson has lectured across the country, and around the world, in many of the best colleges and universities, and in public theaters and auditoriums, and for many corporations and unions. He has also served for the last 30 years as a journalist, media commentator, and host, on every major radio and television show, from NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “The Takeaway,” and “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, to television’s “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation,” “Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” and “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Dyson has served as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, and as a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, and a political analyst for MSNBC. Dyson has also frequently appeared on CNN and Fox News to offer political and cultural analysis.

The commencement ceremony will be available via Facebook Live, allowing family and friends around the world to share the occasion with graduates.