News

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/05/marian_wright_edelman_will_add.html

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, will deliver the commencement speech to the Portland State University Class of 2010 next month.

Edelman will address the largest graduating class in PSU's history at commencement ceremonies that begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 13, in Portland's Rose Garden Arena.

"Marian Wright Edelman has improved the lives of countless children," said PSU President Wim Wiewel in a prepared statement. "Her message of empowering our nation's youth through education and outreach is a vision we share at Portland State University."

Edelman graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta and Yale Law School and became the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. She directed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Miss., founded the Washington Research Project and led the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University.

Counting students who completed their studies in the summer, fall and winter quarters of 2009 and those taking their degrees this spring, Portland State University has produced a total of 5,135 graduates in the last year.