Gerson to give commencement address
More than 1,100 students are eligible to walk in the graduation exercises, which were divided into four separate ceremonies and moved indoors due to weather conditions. Ceremonies are being held in the HTC Student Recreation and Convocation Center on the CCU campus.
Gerson will also receive the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.
Since 2007, Gerson has written a nationally syndicated column that appears twice weekly in the Washington Post and nearly 1,000 other newspapers. He is the author of "Heroic Conservatism" (2007) and co-author of "City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era" (2010). He serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Center for Global Leadership and of The News Literacy Project. Gerson is a senior adviser to ONE, a bipartisan organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases, and co-chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Values. He appears regularly on the PBS NewsHour, Face the Nation and other news programs.
Until 2006, Gerson was a top aide to President George W. Bush as assistant to the president for policy and strategic planning. He was a key administration advocate for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), the fight against global sex trafficking, and funding for women's justice and empowerment issues. Prior to that appointment, he served in the White House as deputy assistant to the president and director of presidential speechwriting and as assistant to the president for speechwriting and policy adviser. Gerson joined Bush's presidential campaign in early 1999 as chief speechwriter and senior policy adviser.
Gerson was previously a senior editor covering politics at U.S. News and World Report, a speechwriter and policy adviser for Jack Kemp, and a speechwriter for Bob Dole during the 1996 presidential campaign. He is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois. He grew up in the St. Louis area and now lives with his wife and sons in northern Virginia.
The commencement ceremony will also include the presentation of awards to outstanding graduates for academic achievement as well as recognition of retiring faculty members Edgar Dyer, Michael Ferguson, Patricia Piver and Susan Webb. The ceremony will be streamed live on the CCU website at coastal.edu/graduation/spring_stream.html.
In case of severe weather, commencement exercises will be held in the HTC Center on the CCU campus and divided into four ceremonies: two on Friday, May 8, and two on Saturday, May 9. For more details and ticket information, visit the website at coastal.edu/graduation.