A legendary cartoonist has been announced as this year's Marist College commencement speaker.

As graduation time draws near local colleges have begun announcing their guest speakers. In February, Vassar College's student run paper announced that the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, would be the speaker at the college's May 29 ceremony. A 1984 graduate of Vassar, Ifill served as commencement speaker at Bard college's graduation ceremony last year. Bard has yet to announce this year's guest.

On Monday morning Marist College officially announced that famed creator of the Doonsbury cartoon series, Garry Trudeau, would be speaking at the college's graduation ceremony on May 21. Trudeau will also be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Marist.

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Trudeau was the very first comic strip artist ever receive a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1989, 2004 and 2005. Trudeau has been creating Doonsbury comics since 1970 Trudeau and today the strip appears in 1,400 daily and Sunday newspapers across the globe.

Michael O'Looney, a 1987 graduate of Marist College has also been announced as the speaker at the college's adult and graduate commencement on May 20. You may remember O'Looney as a former reporter and anchor for the CBS Evening News and Channel 2 News out of New York City, After leaving CBS, O’Looney worked for Ray Kelly as the New York Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner for Public Information.

SUNY New Paltz will hold their commencement on Sunday, May 15. Regina Calcaterra, who graduated from the school in 1988 will be speaking at the ceremony. Calcaterra is the best-selling author of “Etched in Sand.” And on May 21 Timothy P. Flanigan, Professor of Medicine in the Infectious Diseases Division of The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals and Brown Medical School will be speaking at Mount St. Mary's commencement in Newburgh.

 

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