Van Jones, CNN host and Dream Corps founder, will deliver Wake Forest University’s commencement address on Monday, May 16.
Jones is an Emmy Award-winning producer and author of three New York Times best-selling books: Beyond the Messy Truth: How We Came Apart, How We Come Together (2017); Rebuild the Dream (2012); and The Green Collar Economy (2008).
Jones has successfully stewarded bipartisan legislative and advocacy efforts during each of the last four presidential administrations. He advocated successfully for the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, which the New York Times calls the most substantial breakthrough in criminal justice in a generation.
Also joining Wake Forest for the commencement weekend will be baccalaureate speaker Eddie S. Glaude Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.
Glaude is a passionate educator, author, political commentator and public intellectual who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. His most recent book and a New York Times bestseller, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own, takes a comprehensive look at the difficulties we face as a democracy due to the challenges of race in America.
The graduation ceremony and baccalaureate service are ticketed events reserved for graduates, their families and guests. Livestream webcasts of both events will be available on the University’s commencement website and recordings will be posted after the events.
Read more about the speakers on the Wake Forest News website. More information about Wake Forest’s commencement weekend is available at commencement.wfu.edu.
