Contact: Dean Golembeski, Trinity College Public Relations, (860) 297-2143 [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Nine Distinguished Individuals To Receive Honorary Degrees from Trinity College
HARTFORD, Conn., May 5 -- An Academy Award-winning actress, a national championship coach, an acclaimed author and the head of the Girl Scouts are among nine accomplished individuals who will receive honorary degrees when Trinity College conducts its 173rd Commencement on Sunday, May 23.
The Commencement speaker will be Lorraine Monroe, Ed.D., a highly respected and inspirational educator and author. Now the executive director and founder of the School Leadership Academy at the Center for Educational Innovation in New York City, Monroe served as the founding principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy for College and Professional Careers in Harlem, NY, from 1991-1996. Her experience at the Douglass Academy served as the basis for her book, Nothing Impossible: Leadership Lessons from Inside and Outside the Classroom, published in 1997. Monroe will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
Also receiving an honorary degree will be S. Chusang Rinpoche (a rinpoche is a Tibetan lama). Rinpoche, spiritual leader of the World Buddhist Cultural Exchange in South Korea and vice president of the international organization of Gelugpa, the dominate Buddhist sect in Tibet and Mongolia, will be the speaker at the College's Baccalaureate, which will take place on the morning of May 23 prior to Commencement. At Commencement, Rinpoche will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa.
The seven other honorary degree recipients will be:
* Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist who is considered the father of the African novel. He is the author of Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God. The former chairman of the English department at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, Achebe is the Charles P. Stevenson Professor of Literature at Bard College. Doctor of Letters.
* Ricardo Alegria, an esteemed authority of Puerto Rican culture who is often referred to as the father of Puerto Rico. He is the director of the Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and founder of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He is a scholar of pre-Hispanic indigenous Caribbean history and the author of more than 25 books. Doctor of Humane Letters.
* John Brademas, who was president of New York University from 1985-1992. He also is a former Democratic Congressman from Indiana and served as majority whip for the 95th and 96th Congress. In 1996, Brademas authored the International Education Act, which provides federal funding for colleges for international studies and international affairs. Doctor of Laws.
* Jim Calhoun, the head men's basketball coach at the University of Connecticut since 1986 who this year led his team to the 1999 NCAA Division I national championship. A former national basketball coach of the year, Calhoun has been a college head coach since 1972 and has won more than 67 percent of his games. Doctor of Humane Letters.
* Marsha Evans, who has been the national executive director of the Girl Scouts of America since 1998. Prior to that she had a 29-year naval career, attaining the rank of rear admiral. She was the first woman to command an American naval base and the first woman to head the Navy's worldwide recruiting effort. She also is a former chief of staff of the U.S. Naval Academy. Doctor of Humane Letters.
* Rita Moreno, who won the Academy Award for her role in West Side Story. She is only one of four performers to have won an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy award. She is one of 32 private citizens named by President Clinton to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Doctor of Music.
* Walter Persegati, who is the former secretary general and treasurer of the Vatican Monuments, Museums and Art Galleries. He is a co-founder of the International Federation of Catholic Youth Organizations. He also has served as an assistant permanent observer of the Holy See to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Doctor of Laws. The Baccalaureate will begin at 10:30 a.m. and Commencement at 2:30 p.m. Both events are scheduled to be held outdoors in the Quad. In the event of rain, both will be held indoors at Ferris Athletic Center.
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