United States Attorney General Eric Holder will be the class of 2010’s commencement speaker, Boston University President Robert Brown announced at the Senior Breakfast Friday morning.
Before his scheduled commencement address on May 16 where he will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, Holder will speak at the School of Law’s convocation at Agganis Arena.
Holder was sworn in to office as the 82nd attorney general of the U.S. last February. He is the first African-American to serve in that position.
Prior to his current post, he was named deputy attorney general by President Bill Clinton in 1997, the first African American to be named so, and before that served as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.
Holder graduated from Columbia University in 1973, where he majored in American history.
Brown also announced that International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs Director Wafaa El-Sadr was chosen to be the Commencement Day Baccalaureate speaker.
Pulitzer Prize winner and playwright Edward Albee, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner and former BU professor Osamu Shimomura and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner and civil rights lawyer William Coleman are scheduled to receive honorary degrees at commencement.
Many seniors expressed enthusiasm for the selection of Holder.
“It’s nice having someone from the current cabinet speak at our graduation, that’s pretty high up. It makes us feel privileged,” said College of Communication senior John Savage.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Jacqueline Dinas said that Holder was an especially good selection because her class was able to witness the first black president take office.
“It’s timely for our class because of Obama’s inauguration, so it’s a really good choice to have Eric Holder,” she said.
However, CAS senior Elias Friedman admitted he’d expected someone with a greater repute.
“I had higher hopes,” he said. “I wish it’d been Hillary [Clinton].”
Some seniors said Holder was a step up from last year’s speaker, Massachusetts Rep. Michael Capuano.
“I’m excited it’s such an important person,” said CAS Jennifer Faulk. “I heard that last year. . . everyone was disappointed. But he turned out to be a great speaker, so I expect this will be the same.”
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