MSNBC host and pundit Melissa Harris-Perry will deliver the commencement address to Wellesley College on May 25.
Harris-Perry was the choice of a group of students who are in charge of inviting a speaker on behalf of the senior class, according to a release from Wellesley, a private women's college near Boston, Mass.
"I look forward to hearing her thoughts on what lies ahead for the Class of 2012 and any wisdom she may offer this diverse group of talented, ambitious women," Wellesley senior class president Kate Leonard said in a statement. "Who better to address a class of 'women who will' than a woman who has?"
Harris-Perry recently launched her own weekend MSNBC program, becoming first African-American woman to solo-host a news and politics show on a major TV news outlet, according to Wellesley's news office. She is also the only tenured college professor to host a cable TV news show. Harris-Perry teaches classes at Tulane University, and is a founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South.
H. Kim Bottomly, Wellesley president, said picking Harris-Perry is a choice of someone who represents "empowered women who are boldly, and thoughtfully, pioneering every platform."
Harris-Perry writes for The Nation and her show can be seen on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
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