Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will deliver this year's Commencement address, the Daily has learned. Patrick, along with six others, will also receive an honorary degree during the May 17 ceremony.
Administrators said they chose Patrick, whose meteoric rise in the Democratic Party surprised even political insiders, because he represents an injection of hope and leadership during troubling times.
"The governor's story is really compelling," University President Lawrence Bacow told the Daily in an e-mail. "He rose from extremely modest beginnings to achieve at the very highest levels of society both academically and professionally. He is an extraordinary speaker and a great model for what an active citizen should be."
Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler, who said that a formal announcement of Patrick's selection will appear on Tufts' Web site today, agreed. "His life echoes themes that reflect the values of this university," she said.
Patrick is also scheduled to give the Commencement speech at MIT on June 5.
"It's somewhat unusual," Thurler said of his decision to speak at two schools, "but I think it reflects that there is widespread interest in what he has to say."
Patrick took office after defeating then-Lieutenant Gov. Kerry Healey by 20 percentage points in November 2006. Both of them came out on top of Independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross.
The blowout on Election Day masked what was a highly partisan contest that exposed fundamental fault lines in state government, with Patrick's election serving as a repudiation of 16 years of GOP governors in the heavily left-leaning Bay State.
During the election, Patrick and Healey clashed on issues ranging from crime control to immigration policy, but since then, his administration has come to be defined by the failing economy.
In particular, Patrick has been working over the last several months to close a budget deficit of well over $1 billion for this year, and, in the process, he has faced criticism from legislators and the general public alike.
Yesterday, Massachusetts' House of Representatives for all intents and purposes killed Patrick's proposal to raise taxes on candy, sugared drinks and alcohol, and his plan to increase the gas tax by 19 cents per gallon has sparked a heated debate throughout the state.
Thurler predicted that graduating Tufts seniors, who are about to enter the ailing job market themselves, will enjoy hearing Patrick's thoughts on the economy.
"I ... think that in these extraordinary times, there's an interest in the roles that governments play on all levels in addressing societal changes, and I suspect that he'll have a lot to say that's relevant to the Tufts community in that arena," she said.
Patrick, who grew up in Chicago, came to Massachusetts at the age of 14 to attend Milton Academy on a scholarship.
He later graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and served in the Clinton administration as the assistant attorney general for civil rights.
Now the state's first African-American governor, Patrick was an early supporter of President Barack Obama. Both gained fame for their messages of hope.
Like all of Tufts' past Commencement speakers, Patrick's only compensation for his remarks will be an honorary degree.
Apart from Patrick, there will also be six other honorary degree recipients, three of whom are Tufts alums.
David Burke (A '57), a renowned broadcast journalist and the former president of CBS News, will receive a doctorate of humane letters, while Council on Foreign Relations President Emeritus Leslie Gelb (A '59) will be awarded a doctorate of laws.
Meanwhile, Sister Margaret Leonard, the executive director of the homelessness-prevention group Project Hope, and Patricia Stonesifer, the founding CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will both earn doctorates of public service.
C. Megan Urry (J '77), the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale, and Robert Weinberg, the director of MIT's Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, will be presented with honorary doctorates of science.
