Bates College taps journalist Mary Louise Kelly to speak at its commencement in May

Apr. 25—LEWISTON — One of the most prominent journalists on National Public Radio will deliver the graduation address at Bates College at its May 26 commencement.

Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR's All Things Considered afternoon news show, is "a journalist who has never wavered in her chosen duty to inform the public about the forces at work in our society and their impact on our lives," the college said in its announcement.

Kelly will join two others in receiving an honorary doctor of letters degree at the annual ceremony: poet Richard Blanco and the former president of Bates, Clayton Spencer, who stepped down last summer.

The college's 158th commencement will be the first for its new president, Garry Jenkins, who will be formally inaugurated May 4 but has served since July.

In a prepared statement, Jenkins said he is "proud and honored to welcome individuals who are so incredibly deserving of the college's highest recognition" at its graduation ceremony for the Class of 2024.

"From the strength of Bates today to how we interpret, comprehend and understand ourselves and our world, they have made significant and wide-ranging contributions to our lives and society," Jenkins said.

Kelly, the only one of the three who will speak, has held several assignments for NPR over the years, including a decade as national security correspondent.

NPR's website said her work has found her deep in interviews at the Khyber Pass, a pass in Pakistan on the Afghanistan border, "at mosques in Hamburg, and in grimy Belfast bars" as she reported on everything from terrorism to the rise of new nuclear powers.

Her work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Washingtonian and The Atlantic. She's also written a couple of novels.

Bates' commencement is open to the public.

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