2017 Commencement and Baccalaureate speakers

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, a staunch advocate for historically black colleges and universities and a former chairwoman of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, will deliver the Commencement Exercises keynote address at Bennett College, officials announced today.

Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 6, at 10 a.m. in The Quadrangle on the Bennett campus. The public is invited.

Visitors are also welcomed at Baccalaureate Exercises, which begin at 7 p.m. on May 5 inside the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel on campus. The Rev. Dr. Daran H. Mitchell, senior pastor of Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and President of The Pulpit Forum of Greensboro, will deliver the Baccalaureate address.

“We are delighted to have Congresswoman Adams and Rev. Mitchell address our students at such profoundly momentous occasions in their lives,” said Bennett College Interim President Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins. “Congresswoman Adams was a member of the Bennett faculty for more than 40 years and also served as director of our Steel Hall Art Gallery. She’s known for getting things done in Washington, and she’s also a powerful and relevant speaker. Pastor Mitchell is a friend to Bennett College and assisted us last fall by leading a worship service sponsored by The Pulpit Forum of Greensboro to help us raise money. He is a dynamic speaker, and I am confident each of them will impart sage knowledge to our graduating seniors.”