U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand '84 To Deliver Commencement Address at Emma Willard School

Related Media

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Emma Willard School graduate '84

TROY, NY (05/23/2011)(readMedia)-- U.S. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY) – a leading advocate for education and equality issues and a 1984 graduate of Emma Willard School – will deliver the keynote address at the school's 197th Commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sunday May 29, 2011.

Eighty-four girls representing 10 countries and 10 states will earn their diplomas at this year's ceremony. They include 64 boarding students and 20 day students whose hometowns range from Juazeiro Do Norte, Brazil to Brooklyn, NY and from Dhahran Saudi Arabia to Hartland, WI.

Senator Gillibrand was sworn in as United States Senator from New York in January 2009, filling the seat of the current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In November 2010, Gillibrand won election to the seat with 63 percent of the vote. Prior to her service in the Senate, Gillibrand served in the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 20th Congressional District, which spans across ten counties in upstate New York.

"Senator Gillibrand personifies everything an Emma girl is: Authentic, empowered, and a citizen of the world." said Trudy Hall, Head of School. "In word and deed, Kirsten is the powerful embodiment of leadership and character and we are thrilled to welcome her back to campus."

Throughout her time in Congress, Senator Gillibrand has been committed to open and honest government. The New York Times has called Gillibrand's commitment to transparency a "quiet touch of revolution" in Washington, and The Sunlight Foundation, the leading advocacy organization dedicated to making government more open and transparent, praised Senator Gillibrand as a pioneer for her work.

In the U.S. Senate, Senator Gillibrand has made her presence felt, helping lead the fight to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell," the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military, and providing health care and compensation to the 9/11 first responders and community survivors that are sick with diseases caused by the toxins at Ground Zero. Senator Gillibrand worked to bring Democrats and Republicans together to win both legislative victories, leading Newsweek and The Daily Beast to name Senator Gillibrand one of 150 women who shake the world.

Emma girls graduating this year have enrolled at the following colleges:

Agnes Scott College

Amherst College

Bennington College

Bryn Mawr College

University of California at Los Angeles

Carnegie Mellon University

Clark University

Colby College

Colgate University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Eckerd College

Elon University

Eugene Lang College

Franklin and Marshall College

The George Washington University

Gettysburg College

Hamilton College

Hope College

University of Illinois

Johns Hopkins University

University of Mary Washington

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Middlebury College

Mount Holyoke College

New York University

New York University – Abu Dhabi

Northeastern University

Occidental College

Oxford College of Emory University

University of Pennsylvania

Pitzer College

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

University of Rhode Island

University of Rochester

Roger Williams University

Sarah Lawrence College

Scripps College

Siena College

Skidmore College

St. Lawrence University

Stanford University

Stony Brook University

SUNY College at Geneseo

SUNY College at Potsdam

Swarthmore College

Thammasat University

Tufts University

Union College

Ursinus College

Waseda University

Washington and Jefferson College

Wellesley College

Williams College

About Emma Willard School

As the oldest private girls' school in the country, Emma Willard School has been empowering girls since 1814. Pioneering educator Emma Hart Willard envisioned a world where girls had the same opportunities as boys and where girls could receive unparalleled educational leadership. Emma will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2014.

In keeping with the tradition of educating and empowering girls, Emma Willard School is the lead sponsor of AUDACIA, a two-day invitational forum, which will take place on September 26 - 27, 2011 in Manhattan. It is co-chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah. Participants include educators and human development practitioners with proven or promising interventions but who need help improving, sustaining or replicating them. Designed to make a measurably significant and sustainable impact on improving both the access to and the quality of education for girls, Emma Willard and Audacia's shared goal is: "Education for every girl, everywhere."