Ballet icon to deliver Senior Convocation address May 22
By Tom Fleischman, Cornell Chronicle
Misty Copeland, who in 2015 became the first Black woman to be named principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, will give the keynote address at Senior Convocation on May 22, from 1-2:30 p.m. in Barton Hall.
The student-run 2025 Convocation Committee announced the selection April 28 during a senior class event on Ho Plaza.
“I feel like Misty is a great choice,” said Reagan Patterson ’25, chair of the Senior Convocation Committee. “A lot of our classmates, when they told us what they wanted in a speaker, they wanted ‘values,’ they wanted ‘empathy.’ They wanted someone who was a trailblazer and someone who showed resilience, which I feel she perfectly embodies.
“She was the first in her field,” Patterson said. “She’s someone who’s broken records and broken down barriers.”