Press Release Example
Oprah Winfrey as Rutgers 250th Anniversary Commencement Speaker
Distinguished Entrepreneur to also be an Honorary Business Degree Recipient
New Brunswick, NJ – March 14, 2016 – Rutgers University takes great pleasure in welcoming Oprah Winfrey as the 250th Anniversary Commencement Speaker on Sunday, May 15, 2016.
After hearing rumors of possible candidates for this year’s commencement ceremony, Rutgers President, Robert L. Barchi, finally announced who was locked down as the ceremony speaker.
Barchi publicized, “It is with great honor and pleasure that I announced Oprah Winfrey as the 2016 commencement speaker. There is no other person I would want to help us celebrate this historic 250th Anniversary Commencement than the successful and distinguished entrepreneur herself, Oprah Winfrey.”
Oprah Winfrey, who has been dubbed the “Queen of All Media,” is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. Ranked as the richest African American of the 20th century, Winfrey is also known for being the greatest black philanthropist in American history as well as North America’s first and only multi-billionaire African American person.
Born into poverty in rural Mississippi, Winfrey went through many hardships until her rise to success at age 19. Born to a teenage single mother, Winfrey became one herself at age 14 after being molested throughout her childhood and early teens; her son died in infancy. After the death of her son Winfrey was sent to Tennessee where she soon landed a job in radio and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Winfrey was eventually transferred to day time talk where she boosted the third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place and later launched her own production company. After 25 years doing her own talk show, Winfrey decided to end her show and focus more on philanthropy and help out those who are in dire need of it.
There has been an out poor of excited Rutgers student who cannot wait to have Oprah Winfrey be their commencement speaker. One student, Lauren Braconi, stated that “Oprah is the most influential women in the world and she is honored to have her be the speaker at her graduation.” This seems to be the consensus for the majority of the Rutgers students.
Along with being the commencement speaker, Winfrey will also be the recipient of an honorary business degree from Rutgers, which will in turn be her third honorary degree; the other two received from Duke and Harvard. The commencement ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. in High Point Solutions Stadium at Rutgers University – New Brunswick on the Busch Campus in Piscataway, New Jersey. For more information go to commencement.rutgers.edu or contact the Office of the Secretary of the University.
About Rutgers
Established in 1766 and celebrating their 250th anniversary, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Being an American public research university and the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, Rutgers creates innovative learning opportunities, programs, and services that prepare students to lead, serve, and become engaged members of global society. With an enrollment of more than 67,000 graduate and undergraduate students and 22,000 faculty and staff, Rutgers is the only public university in New Jersey to be invited to join the Association of American Universities, an organization comprising the 62 leading universities in North America. Rutgers is also a member of the Big Ten Conference and its academic counterpart, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a consortium of 15 world-class research universities. Ranking 33rd among the world’s top 1,000 universities by the Center for World University Ranking, Rutgers is a globally known university for their quality of student education as well as faculty prestige. Visit Rutgers.edu for more information.
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Media Contact:
Paige Brizak
Public Relations Personnel
Cell: 732-754-0052
pbrizak@gmail.com
