Michelle Obama To Speak At Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T, Oregon State Commencements In 2012

WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama will speak at three college graduation ceremonies this spring, including two in key general election battleground states.

Mrs. Obama's first commencement address will be at Virginia Tech. The White House says the first lady has been inspired by the school's resiliency following the deadly 2007 campus shootings. Mrs. Obama will also speak at North Carolina A&T, a historically black university.

Virginia and North Carolina are both politically important states that will be crucial to President Barack Obama's reelection prospects.

Mrs. Obama will also deliver the commencement address at Oregon State University, which has been recognized for its efforts to promote healthy communities, a key priority of the first lady. Mrs. Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, is the coach of the school's men's basketball team.

Loading Slideshow

• Amy Poehler At Harvard

  Definitely the funniest commencement speech of 2011. Also probably one of the funniest commencement speeches of all time.

• Sheryl Sandberg At Barnard

  "Men run the world," Sandberg told Barnard's class of 2011. "We will never close the achievement gap if we don't close the ambition gap." A great message for girls everywhere.

• Denzel Washington At UPENN

  Washington delivered and inspiring speech about the necessity of failure.

• Tom Hanks At Yale

  Tom Hanks gave the address at Yale graduation, in which he implored the class to "please do not turn off your electronic devices." A warm and funny speech.

• John Legend At Kean University

  Kean University students got two for the price of one. John Legend gave a speech and a swoon-worthy performance at their commencement.

• Arianna At Sarah Lawrence

  "Perseverance is the difference between success and failure," Arianna told Sarah Lawrence grads in her witty and thought-provoking speech. "Failure is not the opposite of success, it is the stepping stone to success."

• Obama At Coast Guard

  Obama warned Coast Guard that they have "never been more important" in his address at the Academy.

• Ronan Farrow At Simons Rock

  Ronan Farrow gave an informative speech about what young people can do for the world at Simon's Rock College of the Bard.

• Michelle Obama At Spelman

  Michelle Obama gave an amazing speech at Spelman College, detailing the school's history, and telling grads, "Do big things."

• Jack Nicholson At Brown

  OK. So this isn't exactly a commencement speech. But you have to watch it, trust me!

From our partners

• 25 Signs You're A Hot Mess | Thought Catalog - thoughtcatalog.com

Comments

[johneljuan]

01:44 PM on 04/03/2012

palin to speak at whats a matta u.

[ClaireDeLune]

03:12 AM on 04/03/2012

Come on HP, please show some compassion towards MO! Certainly you have a photo that is less hideous than this!

[the99pct]

10:45 PM on 03/31/2012

President and Michelle have been the target of so many racist cartoons, emails and what not but they have taken all of them in their stride as people with lot of dignity. They read lot of books and I am sure they have read this from Mahatma Gandhi:

"you can ignore or punish hate as many times as it is committed but you cannot eradicate it. It is something that is part of a body and soul".

[the99pct]

10:39 PM on 03/31/2012

A classy First Lady since Hillary and a great role model for mothers.

[carrot6]

01:37 PM on 03/30/2012

Geez a bona fide government worker....go Michelle

[Michael Ludin]

07:14 AM on 03/30/2012

Bitter, table for 1?

[laureenholt]

05:13 PM on 03/31/2012

For you, I take it?

[hypyrwyf]

12:30 PM on 03/30/2012

No, that's you. Michelle is a wonderful speaker, with much to contribute to our nation.

[Jackie Sparks]

12:02 AM on 03/29/2012

Sorry to tell you that Michelle Obama's brother has been fired from Oregon State.

[girlking]

01:54 AM on 03/29/2012

And!!!

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:52 PM on 03/29/2012

He hasn't been fired from Oregon State, the basketball Web site of which lists Craig Robinson as head basketball coach. Jackie Sparks is a liar.

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:51 PM on 03/29/2012

Check your facts before you spew lies. Go to the Beavers basketball Web site. TODAY. Craig Robinson is listed as head coach. Buh-bye.

[SoCalDoc]

11:07 PM on 03/28/2012

I think it is wonderful that Mrs. Obama is the commencement speaker at North Carolina A&T; since she is an exemplary role model, it is important that she speak where she can provide inspiration to black college students. That is something a white person could never do as well as Mrs. Obama. The other institutions are very fortunate that she has accepted their invitation to speak at their commencement ceremonies. She is charismatic, well-educated and gracious.

[LaureenMillarHolt]

04:30 PM on 03/29/2012

"Exemplary role model"?
As in instigating brown-bag lunch inspections @ schools & having them thrown out if the "officer" didn't like what s/he saw?

She's no "role model" for me or my kids!

[Michael Ludin]

07:15 AM on 03/30/2012

and you all must be the 'happy' people... hardly the gestapo program you describe, it is all recommended so they live longer and smarter then you!

[millfarm]

11:39 AM on 03/30/2012

Michelle Obama should receive a lot of credit for attempting to make our children more aware of healthy foods. If parents, such as yourself, resent the good information then too bad for you. Go suck your thumb!

[mombabytiger]

09:21 PM on 03/28/2012

Lucky me! My daughter is graduating from Tech!

[larmarch5]

04:05 PM on 03/28/2012

Your voting rights may be in jeopardy. Go to www.rockthevote.com to be sure you are still registered to vote. It may be the only way left for people in Florida to get registered and STAY registered.

[Q45]

10:13 AM on 03/29/2012

Nice informative site and thank you for posting.

[GraphicMatt]

02:34 PM on 03/28/2012

Amazing how any mention of the first lady and all the tro//s crawl out from under their bridges to hurl desperate, sad, pathetic insults at her.

[LaureenMillarHolt]

04:32 PM on 03/29/2012

Maybe, just maybe, there's a kernel of truth in those "insults" that you're too blind to see as a Leftist....

[Michael Ludin]

07:16 AM on 03/30/2012

or maybe you are just silly... I am going with silly!

[Pennsylvanianne]

07:53 PM on 03/29/2012

AND lie about her brother being fired as basketball coach! He is STILL Oregon State's BB coach!

[sincerelyty]

02:15 PM on 03/28/2012

What's the point of mentioning that NC A&T is an historically black organization?

[mombabytiger]

09:22 PM on 03/28/2012

What in the world are you blithering about?

[sydneymoon]

10:21 PM on 03/28/2012

She spoke at the following universities in the past:
University of California Merced 2009
George Washington University 2010
University of Northern Iowa 2011
U.S. Military Academy at West Point 2011

Get a grip

[Kirby Smith]

03:11 PM on 03/28/2012

I don't know, maybe to distinguish it, most people probably wouldn't recognize the name.

[sincerelyty]

06:29 PM on 03/28/2012

I don't recognize Oregon State. Should they included "historically WHITE university". Things like this only deepens the racial divide in this country.

[mybluesmoke]

02:12 PM on 03/28/2012

Our First Lady is awesome!

[wkingsolomon77]

07:18 PM on 03/28/2012

She is God sent and guess what we will have 4 more years of this bless family.The more they hate on this family the higher God will uplift them. We need to make sure after Obama leaves office after 8 years ,we get another family just like his in there

[nottinglepee]

12:23 AM on 03/31/2012

Brilliant logic.

The more people "hated on" (love the ghetto talk) Hitler, the more God lifted him up?

Oh, and re your last comment...I guess you wouldn't want a WHITE Hispanic?

[nottinglepee]

12:21 AM on 03/31/2012

"Awesome!"

A word that has been watered down an ruined.

I saw a dopey 6 year old that put a bag of Cheetos in the buggy at the supermarket, per his mother's request.

She high 5'd him and said "Awesome job Stewart!"


So, yeah, I guess our flotus is awesome.

What has happened to our country?

[mybluesmoke]

09:11 AM on 03/31/2012

It must be a terrible burden to carry around so much hate.

[deepthicket]

02:11 PM on 03/28/2012

Had to stop at 2 minutes. Beyond boring. Might get better. I'll never know.

[sincerelyty]

02:16 PM on 03/28/2012

It's amazing how I wait DAYS for my comments to be approved (and some never are) but an incendiary, hateful remark such as this one is quickly approved by the moderators.

[Tom from Joisey]

02:21 PM on 03/28/2012

Neither incendiary or hateful. As a citizen I am concerned about the dignity of the office. Mrs. Obama's "hang loose" attire might be appropriate at a luau, but not when she is representing us.