Skidmore College is expected to announce that its graduation speaker for the Class of 2017 will be Oprah Winfrey. The announcement has yet to occur, but Winfrey is listed on the commencement web page. A video has also been posted online from the College’s Vimeo account. The video is locked, but with a password of skidmore, it is not hard to access. Winfrey has delivered commencement addresses to Stanford, Harvard and Duke in recent years and her 2017 Skidmore address will mark one of the most well-known commencement speakers in the college’s history.
Winfrey’s connection to Skidmore likely stems from her relation with students who have graduated from her Leadership Academy For Girls and who have a history of attending the college. One of these students is a current Skidmore senior. As reported by the Times Union, Winfrey visited Skidmore briefly in 2013.
Winfrey will be joined by philanthropist Ann Rubenstein Tisch, author Wes Moore and professor Mark Youndt.
Editors note: Skidmore confirmed via all-campus email the following day that Winfrey will be delivering the commencement address.