Talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor Oprah Winfrey is set to delivery the undergraduate commencement address at her alma mater, the historically Black Tennessee State University (TSU). The ceremony will take place on May 6 in Nashville at Hale Stadium.
“Commencement is always a special time for our students and their families, as it marks a major milestone in our students’ lives and a sign of success for them,” said TSU, Dr. President Glenda Glover. “To have Ms. Winfrey as our speaker will be a life changing moment for graduates and the University. She is someone who has walked the TSU campus as a student, sat in some of the same classroom, and knows first-hand the value of a TSU education.”
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Winfrey attended (TSU) on a full scholarship, majoring in communications. While at TSU, Winfrey landed a job at Nashville’s WLAC-TV (now WTVF-TV), where she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor. Despite being one credit short of her degree, Winfrey decided to leave school and Nashville to pursue her dream of being a broadcast journalist. However, in 1986, she returned to submit her final paper and officially graduated from TSU.
The commencement ceremony will be live streamed. Click here for more information.
TSU was founded in 1912 and is the only state-funded historically Black university in Tennessee and has over 8,000 students.