House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will speak at Cornell's Convocation this spring
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Ithaca, 26 January 10 -- Cornell University has announced that Nancy Pelosi, California Congresswoman from the 8th district and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, will be the featured Convocation Speaker on May 29th during Cornell's graduation weekend.
By tradition, there is no guest speaker at Cornell's commencement ceremony itself, and the University does not confer honorary degrees. The senior class invites a guest to speak at the Senior Convocation on Saturday, the day before graduation.
If weather allows, the Senior Convocation, which is open to the public, will be held at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field at noon on the 29th. Seniors will receive a limited number of tickets that will admit them and guests to an indoor talk in the event of severe weather hitting Ithaca.
Representative Pelosi is the first woman in history to lead a major party in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected in the fall of 2002 as Democratic Leader of the House, and in January of 2007 as the Speaker of the House.
Recent Convocation speakers at Cornell include David Plouffe, President Obama's campaign manager, in 2009; author, actress, and poet Maya Angelou in 2008; CNN journalist Soledad O'Brien in 2007; Martin Luther King III in 2006; General Wesley Clark in 2005; and President Bill Clinton in 2004.