Bruce Babbitt To Speak at The New School's Commencement 5/21

The New School, a legendary, progressive university in Greenwich Village, has announced that Bruce Edward Babbitt, secretary of the Interior under President Clinton from 1993 to 2001, will deliver remarks to graduating students at the university's 74th commencement exercises. The Madison Square Garden ceremony will take place on Friday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m.

"Bruce Babbitt has been a champion of environmental planning and a visionary protector of the nation's natural resources," said New School President Bob Kerrey. "As a university with intellectual energy and student interests closely connected to devising sustainable solutions that improve our lives, we are particularly delighted to welcome Bruce Babbitt."

President Kerrey will welcome graduates and confer honorary degrees on Babbitt as well as education psychologist Jerome Seymour Bruner, composer Dr. Chen Yi, scientist Dr. Rita R. Colwell, environmental philanthropist Jeremy Grantham, and artist, architect, and filmmaker Alfredo Jaar. A student ensemble from Mannes College The New School for Music will perform one of Dr. Yi's compositions, "Dancing," from her Fiddle Suite for Erhu and String Quartet.

Though it began as a university dedicated to adult education, non-credit, and continuing education, The New School today enrolls more than 10,000 students in degree-granting programs in the humanities and social sciences, design, public administration, and the performing arts. May 2010 graduates will have earned undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in all of these areas, including the university's first students to complete a bachelor's in Environmental Studies.

Prior to his role in the Clinton cabinet, Mr. Babbitt served as attorney general and governor of Arizona. He is currently chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund and contributes expertise to conservation practices in the Amazon Basin as a fellow of the Blue Moon Fund.

Additional information about New School commencement and honorary degree recipients is available at www.newschool.edu/commencement.
About The New School
Located in the heart of New York's Greenwich Village, The New School is a center of academic excellence where intellectual and artistic freedoms thrive. More than 10,200 matriculated students and 6,400 continuing education students enjoy a disciplined education supported by small class sizes, superior resources, and renowned working faculty members who practice what they teach. The New School is comprised of The New School for General Studies, The New School for Social Research, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, Parsons The New School for Design, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, Mannes College The New School for Music, The New School for Drama, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. For more information, please visit http://www.newschool.edu.