LeVar Burton To Give Commencement Speech At Howard
LeVar Burton To Give Commencement Speech At Howard University
Famed actor and educator Levar Burton will deliver the commencement speech at Howard University on May 10.
Howard University announced on Tuesday, April 8 that the iconic HBCU’s 157th Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 10:00 a.m., on The Yard.
The Peabody, Emmy, and Grammy-Award Burton will also be receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Howard.
Burton first came to fame portraying Kunta Kinte in the renowned 1977 miniseries Roots, for which he won an Emmy Award. Burton’s legend would grow exponentially as the host of the believed educational series Reading Rainbow. Oh yeah, he also held it down for Black people in space as engineer Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Howard University also shared a list of Honorary Degree recipients that include:
- Emery Neal Brown, Ph.D., will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Brown is one of the foremost leaders in computational neuroscience and anesthesiology.
- The Honorable Barbara Lee will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. She was the first Black woman to represent northern California in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress, where she served for 27 years and chaired the Congressional Black Caucus, Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, and Congressional Social Work Caucus, among other leadership posts.
- Lilian Seenoi-Barr will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Seenoi-Barr is the first Black mayor in Northern Ireland and leads Derry City and Strabane.
- Natasha Trethewey will receive a Doctor of Letters degree. Trethewey is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet who served as United States Poet.
Per Howard University, which was established in 1867, the 2025 graduates of its 14 schools and colleges will be one of its largest graduating classes to receive bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The individual colleges and schools will also hold awards and recognition ceremonies for their respective graduates from May 7 – 10.
More information about the 2025 Howard University graduation can be found at www.commencement.howard.edu.