Andrew Sorensen to Address Grads at UA Spring Commencement May 17

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Outgoing President Andrew Sorensen will give the commencement address at The University of Alabama’s spring commencement ceremonies Friday, May 17 in Coleman Coliseum on the UA campus.

Two University-wide commencement ceremonies will be held this year, at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, to award degrees. Sorensen will speak at both ceremonies.

This will be Sorensen’s last public speech as UA president. Sorensen was recently named president of the University of South Carolina and will assume that position in July.

Also during the ceremonies, acclaimed author and scholar, Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, where he is also chair of Afro-American studies and director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research. An influential cultural critic, Gates is the author of “Colored People: A Memoir,” which traces his childhood experiences in a small West Virginia town in the 1950s and 1960s; “The Future of the Race,” co-authored with Cornel West; and a 1994 cover story for Time magazine on the new black Renaissance in art, as well as numerous articles for The New Yorker.

At 9 a.m., students from the following schools will receive their degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialists, Ph.D. and Ed.D): The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, and the colleges of Communication and Information Sciences, Education, and Nursing.

At 1 p.m., students from the following schools will receive their degrees (bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D.): the colleges of Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Human Environmental Sciences, and the School of Social Work.

The UA School of Law will have its own ceremony at 5 p.m., also at Coleman Coliseum. The featured speaker will be David Ellwanger, president of the Center for American and International Law (formerly the Southwestern Legal Foundation).

A 1962 alumnus of the UA Law School, Ellwanger has served as the Alabama assistant attorney general, executive director of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and CEO of the State Bar of California.

Activities for this graduating class will begin Thursday, May 16 with a reception for graduates and their families at the President’s Mansion from 4 to 6 p.m. President and Mrs. Andrew Sorensen host this event.