Oprah Winfrey to deliver 2008 Commencement address

Oprah Winfrey, the global media leader and philanthropist, will be the university’s 2008 Commencement speaker, President John Hennessy announced Thursday.

Bestselling author Peter J. Gomes, minister at Harvard University’s Memorial Church, will be the Baccalaureate speaker.

“Each year at Commencement we encourage graduating students to think about the skills they have acquired and the impact they can have in the world,” said Hennessy. “I can think of few people who have put such advice to better use than Oprah Winfrey. She has not been content simply to succeed—and succeed spectacularly—at her given profession. She has relentlessly continued her education and sought to improve the world in remarkable and varied ways. Her efforts in the areas of philanthropy—and her heartfelt desire to improve the lives of less fortunate people—serve as a model to us all.”

Senior Class Presidents Brent Pirruccello, Fareez Giga, Jessica Stanley and Malinda Lee said they were elated by Winfrey’s acceptance of the invitation to speak at Commencement.

“It is hard to imagine someone who has a more inspiring story to tell than Oprah Winfrey,” the class presidents said in a statement. “Her professional achievements and social activism offer insights from which each of us can personally benefit. We look forward to hearing her thoughts about meeting life’s challenges and making a difference in the world. We are sure her observations and counsel will be eagerly greeted by our fellow graduates.”

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes was cited by Time magazine as one of the seven best preachers in America nearly 30 years ago. A 1996 New Yorker profile described his preaching style as “a mix of black ‘tornado’ preaching and traditional English sermons.” He also was featured in the summer 1999 premiere issue of Talk magazine as part of its feature “The Best Talkers in America: Fifty Big Mouths We Hope Will Never Shut Up.”

Gomes holds degrees from Bates College and the Harvard Divinity School. He is an honorary fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge, where the Gomes Lectureship has been established in his name.

Gomes, who delivered the benediction at President Reagan’s second inauguration and the sermon at President George H. W. Bush’s inauguration, made national news in 1991 when he told a cheering crowd on the steps of Harvard’s Memorial Church, “I am a Christian who happens as well to be gay.” He was responding to a special issue of a conservative student magazine that was denouncing homosexuality.

He has published 10 volumes of sermons. His 2002 New York Times bestseller, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, explores the purported biblical roots of homophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism and racism. His most recent book was published last fall: The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What’s So Good About the Good News?

In 2006, the man who had been described as a conservative Republican became a Democrat and announced it in a Boston Globe opinion piece.

The patrician preacher has said he is constantly searching for “the judgment of history upon this place and this moment.”

Stanford’s 117th Commencement and Baccalaureate ceremonies are part of a two-day celebration for graduates, their families and friends, and members of the Stanford community. Baccalaureate will take place on the Main Quad on Saturday, June 14, and Commencement will be held at Stanford Stadium on Sunday, June 15.