Marian Wright Edelman Is SPU's Commencement Speaker

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), will speak at Seattle Pacific University’s Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, June 14, at Key Arena in downtown Seattle.

Edelman was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, where she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. She acted as counsel for the Poor People’s Campaign, which was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. before his death. She also founded the Washington Research Project and served for two years as the director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University.

She began CDF in 1973 as a nonprofit child advocacy organization. CDF works to strengthen policies and programs that lift children out of poverty, protect them from abuse and neglect, and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation.

Edelman has received more than 100 honorary degrees, and in 2000 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings. She is the author of several books.

Key Arena is located at 305 Harrison Street at the Seattle Center north of downtown. The Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. Parking is available in various parking lots and garages around Key Arena. This event is free, but a ticket is required for admission. For more information, contact Manager of Public Information Tracy Norlen at 206-281-2977.

Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2014