April 9, 2007

Nancy Pelosi to Deliver Webster University’s Commencement Address

St. Louis, Mo. – Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi will deliver Webster University’s 2007 commencement address on May 12.  The ceremony will take place at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis.  Speaker Pelosi will join Webster University degree candidates, faculty, members of the Board of Trustees, honored guests, administrators and university president Richard S. Meyers in the traditional procession which begins at 9:30 a.m. 

“We are so pleased to be welcoming The Honorable Nancy Pelosi to our Webster University graduation ceremony,” stated President Meyers. “All of us–men and women, Republicans and Democrats alike–from every race, nationality, religion and income level, should celebrate Speaker Pelosi’s achievements.  I know this breaker of glass ceilings will deliver an unforgettable message to our 2007 graduates.” 

Worldwide, Webster University will graduate 6,766 students this year.  Approximately 1,250 students will participate in the St. Louis ceremony.  Students from Webster’s campuses throughout the U.S. as well as its worldwide campuses will be in attendance, including thirty students from the university’s three campuses in China. 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Douglas E. Hill and President Meyers will present Speaker Pelosi with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony.

More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the graduation ceremony. 

Since 1987, Nancy Pelosi has represented California’s Eighth District (includes most of San Francisco) in the House of Representatives. Elected as Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives in 2002, Nancy Pelosi then became the first woman in American history to lead a major political party in the U. S. Congress.  Before being elected Leader, she served as House Democratic Whip for one year and was responsible for the Party’s legislative strategy in the House.  On January 4, 2007, Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Speaker Pelosi now holds the highest elected office ever held by a female in U.S. history. 

No stranger to politics, The Honorable Nancy Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., served as mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress.  Speaker Pelosi’s brother also served as mayor of Baltimore. 

Webster University (www.webster.edu) is an international, multi-campus university, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.  Founded in 1915 as a small private college, Webster now offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs through five schools and colleges.  The university has grown into an international network of campuses that includes 107 domestic and international campuses.  The student population of more than 20,000 men and women ranges in age from traditional college-age students to adult learners, and represents more than 100 nationalities.  The university is committed to excellence in teaching, to joining theory and practice, to small class sizes, and to educating students to be lifelong, independent learners, fully prepared to participate in an increasingly international society.

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