Editor’s Note: Please note 3 p.m. time change for undergraduate commencement.
First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver the address at Jackson State University’s 139th Spring Commencement Ceremony. Mrs. Obama will address more than 800 graduates as well as their family and friends on Saturday, April 23, 2016, at 3:00 p.m. at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Please be on time to see your graduate.
On behalf of Dr. Carolyn W. Meyers, President of Jackson State University and the entire JSU family, “We are honored and very pleased to have First Lady Michelle Obama as the Commencement Speaker for the graduating class of 2016. This is the first time in the history of the University that a sitting First Lady addressed our graduates. It reaffirms that JSU always strives for the best for our students. This Commencement promises to be an occasion that students will never forget.”
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an attorney, writer, the wife of the 44th and current U.S. President Barack Obama. She is the first African-American First Lady of the United States. She has become a national and international role model for women and an advocate for poverty awareness, higher education, and healthy living.
In her advocacy for higher education, Michelle Obama launched the Reach Higher Initiative in 2014. The aim of this initiative is to inspire young Americans to broaden their futures by expanding their education beyond high school. Reach Higher seeks to ensure that all students understand the importance of an education by exposing students to college and career opportunities; understanding financial aid; academic planning and summer learning opportunities; as well as supporting high school counselors who do essential work to get students into college.
Echoing the call of the First Lady’s “Reach Higher” initiative, Jackson State University and the Jackson Public School District collaborated to form the first laboratory school in the Jackson area. Since 2013, Blackburn Laboratory Middle School has partnered with JSU in an effort to transform Blackburn into a highly successful middle school for replication and study of successful practices in the district, state, and nation. The school’s Cleopatra D. Thompson Curriculum Center serves as JSU’s bridge for relevant PreK-12 curricula, technology, and best practices for instructional delivery.
A live stream webcast of the ceremony will be available at new.livestream.com/jacksonstateu. Commencement is open to family and friends of JSU graduates and the public. This is a ticketed event. For more details on parking, tickets and other information related to the event, visit the commencement website at www.jsums.edu.
Commencement coverage will be open to the local, regional and national press, but space is limited. Members of the media who wish to cover the ceremony must submit their request in writing to Dr. Elayne H. Anthony, dean of the School of Journalism and Media Studies and Special Commencement Media Advisor, via email at elayne.h.anthony@jsums.edu. A press briefing will be held Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 10 a.m. at the Mississippi e-Center.