President Obama To Speak At Rutgers Commencement

President Barack Obama will deliver remarks to more than 12,000 graduating students and 40,000 guests at Rutgers University's 250th anniversary commencement ceremony on May 15 on the New Brunswick Campus.

“We are delighted that President Obama has chosen to address our graduates at this year’s historic commencement,” said Rutgers University President Robert Barchi.

White House spokesman Keith Maley said in a statement that Rutgers University "is one of the oldest universities in the country with a long and distinguished history of advancing research and preparing students with the skills they need to succeed in the new economy."

This is the first time in Rutgers University’s history that a sitting president has agreed to speak at commencement, said Barchi.

“President Obama’s decision is a testament to the enthusiastic efforts of Rutgers students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as members of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation, who sent numerous messages to the White House urging the president to join our 250th anniversary graduation ceremony,” he added.

Rutgers first asked Obama to speak at the 2016 commencement two years ago, in 2013. Obama ignored the school's invitation for two years, and the school scheduled journalist Bill Moyers as a back-up speaker.

Moyers was only announced as the speaker April 7, before Obama confirmed this week he would speak.

Obama will deliver his remarks during the Rutgers University-New Brunswick Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 15, at 12:30 p.m. at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway.

More than 12,000 graduates, representing 22 academic units from Rutgers-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, are scheduled to receive their academic degrees. More than 52,000 are expected to attend the ceremony, rain or shine.

Since granting its first degree in 1774, Rutgers has awarded more than 550,000 academic degrees.

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s largest public research universities, enrolling more than 67,000 students each year and serving people throughout New Jersey and beyond.

Next month’s commencement ceremony is part of Rutgers 250, a yearlong celebration that culminates on Nov. 10, 2016 – the 250th anniversary of the birth of Queen’s College.

That colonial institution became Rutgers College in 1825. In 1924, Rutgers College assumed university status. By 1956, acts by the New Jersey State Legislature designated all of Rutgers’ divisions as The State University of New Jersey