Spelman College, the historically Black women’s liberal arts college located in Atlanta, Georgia, has announced its keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient for the 2023 Commencement Ceremony. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, will address the graduating class on as the commencement speaker where an honorary degree, Doctor of Fine Arts, will be given to award-winning actress, producer, and CEO and Founder of PATTERN Beauty, Tracee Ellis Ross.

Hannah-Jones, a renowned investigative journalist and MacArthur Fellow, has dedicated her career to exposing racial injustice and inequality through her reporting. She is the co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, which seeks to increase the number of investigative reporters and editors of color. In addition, she serves as the Knight Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University, where she founded the Center for Journalism & Democracy, and opened the 1619 Freedom School, a free, afterschool literacy program in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, in 2022. At the ceremony, she will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

Ross, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., known for her roles in ABC’s award-winning comedy series BLACK-ISH and GIRLFRIENDS, as well as her work as CEO and Founder of PATTERN Beauty, a haircare brand launched in 2019, will also receive an honorary degree, Doctor of Fine Arts. Ross is an executive producer and narrator of THE HAIR TALES, a docuseries about Black women, beauty and identity through the distinctive lens of Black hair. She recently produced a ten-episode podcast, I Am America, which aims to break through the noise during this divided time in our country in an effort to create space and to heal. Ross will star in and executive produce the animated MTV Entertainment Studios film JODIE, a spinoff of MTV’s iconic DARIA franchise.

Spelman College’s graduating class of 2023 comprises 468 students, with 294 receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees and 174 receiving Bachelor of Science degrees. The class includes four valedictorians, a salutatorian, and many high-achieving graduates from across the country.

The 2023 Commencement Ceremony at Spelman College promises to be a celebration of the graduates’ hard work and achievements, as well as a reminder of the importance of using their education to make a positive impact in the world. The addition of keynote speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones and honorary degree recipient Tracee Ellis Ross is sure to make the ceremony a memorable one for all in attendance.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, GA Sunday, May 21, 2023, at 3:00 p.m.

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