Journalist Jazmine Hughes ’12 to give the keynote address at Conn’s 100th Commencement

Jazmine Hughes '12, associate editor for The New York Times Magazine, will deliver the keynote address at Connecticut College’s 100th Commencement on May 20.

Hughes has been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Elle, Gawker and The New Republic. As a co-creator of Writers of Color, she helped develop a database to introduce assignment editors to a much more diverse array of writers.

For her accomplishments, Hughes was named to the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list—what has been called an annual "encyclopedia of creative disruption." (Read more about Hughes in the Winter 2018 CC Magazine article, "Creative Disruption.")

As part of the ceremony, the College will confer on Hughes an honorary degree—a doctor of humane letters honoris causa—an award that reflects not only her achievements as a journalist but also her ongoing personal commitment to the values that animate this community: excellence, integrity, and justice. Hughes will be the youngest ever recipient of an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College.

“From its founding at the turn of the 20th century as the only college in the state dedicated solely to providing higher education for women, Connecticut College has continually embraced the principles of equity and inclusion as part of its distinctive moral framework. The College's uniquely progressive vision of higher learning has continued to produce graduates prepared not just to make a living but to make a difference,” said President Katherine Bergeron in an announcement to the campus community.

“In this year of our 100th Commencement, we will have the opportunity to hear from a young alumna and activist who is following in the tradition of our founding principles and who lives the College's mission of putting the liberal arts into action.”

Hughes will address a graduating class that has explored a wide array of interests, excelled inside and outside the classroom, completed internships, studied abroad and collaborated on research with faculty. Already, members of the class have accepted positions at major companies and nonprofits and been granted admission to law school, medical school and graduate school. Read their stories.

Commencement weekend begins Saturday, May 19 with a series of events, including Baccalaureate. On Sunday, May 20, the Commencement procession will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the ceremony will follow on Tempel Green at 11 a.m.

For more information about Commencement, including a full schedule of events, please visit www.conncoll.edu/commencement.