Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
You titled your bestselling memoir Finding My Voice.
Well, you definitely found yours. And you have consistently used it to help others raise theirs, in turn.
You were President Obama’s longest-serving and perhaps best-known Senior Advisor, acting also as his Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chairing the White House Council on Women and Girls. After leaving the White House, you turned your attention to leading the Obama Foundation while advising numerous organizations concerned with helping people achieve their full potential, from the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Advisory Board to the board of Sesame Workshop.
“We need leaders who actually understand what it means to be a public servant,” you told Julianna Margulies’ character during your cameo on The Good Wife. It was a fictional drama, but the words were true to your real-life self.
Across your work as a distinguished public servant, businesswoman, advocate and media figure, you have wisely and often joyfully used your influence to raise awareness of people too often unheard and helped them speak for themselves.
We look forward to hearing what you have to say to us today as well.
I hereby declare you recipient of the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters, entitled to all the rights, honors and privileges appertaining thereto.
June 8, 2025