Award-Winning Performer Rita Moreno Speaks at Mills College Commencement May 17, 2008

OAKLAND, CA (05/13/2008)(readMedia)-- Mills College will present its 120th Commencement on Saturday, May 17, 2008 with an address given by award-winning actress Rita Moreno. During the ceremony, honorary doctorates will be conferred upon Moreno, Renel Brooks-Moon, a Mills alumna (Class of 1981) who is the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants, and Glenn Voyles, a Mills Trustee and investment management expert.

Mills' graduating class includes 245 undergraduate women and 220 graduate women and men, as well as students receiving certificates and credentials in a variety of fields. The College's 120th graduation begins at 9:45 am on the campus' Toyon Meadow.

Rita Moreno is an extraordinary actress with more than six decades of achievement including appearances in nearly 50 films. Born Rosita Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Moreno began her acting career with a Broadway debut in Skydrift at the age of 13. She has crossed racial barriers ever since as a singer, dancer, and actress.

She is renowned for her performance as Anita in the film version of West Side Story, for which she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1961. Moreno was the first actress and the first Hispanic to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy.

Renel Brooks-Moon is a pioneering sports announcer and media personality who has broken through formidable gender and racial barriers throughout her multifaceted career.

The only female public address announcer in major league baseball, the exuberant Brooks-Moon is known as "the voice of the San Francisco Giants" at AT&T Park. This year marks her ninth season with the Giants. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown recognized Brooks-Moon as the first female announcer of a championship game in professional sports for her role in the 2002 World Series.

Completing more than two decades as a Bay Area radio personality, she is the host of the "Renel in the Morning Show" on KISS FM 98.1. Brooks-Moon has also been an entertainment reporter for CBS TV 5 since 1998.

Glenn Voyles is an expert in investment markets with more than four decades of experience in his field. During his career, he provided three investment management firms with executive leadership: Loomis, Sayles & Company (vice president, 2003-07), Jurika & Voyles (chair, 1981-2003), and Scudder, Stevens & Clark (vice president, 1965-1981).

Voyles has been a vital member of the Mills College community since 1996, serving as a Trustee, mentor, advisor, fundraiser, and donor. A four-term member of the Mills College Board of Trustees, he is instrumental in stewarding Mills resources to ensure the College's vibrant future.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College ranks as one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review. For more information, visit http://www.mills.edu/.