Misty Copeland, who in 2015 became the first Black woman to be named principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, will give the keynote address at Senior Convocation on May 22, from 1-2:30 p.m. in Barton Hall.

The student-run 2025 Convocation Committee announced the selection April 28 during a senior class event on Ho Plaza.

“I feel like Misty is a great choice,” said Reagan Patterson ’25, chair of the Senior Convocation Committee. “A lot of our classmates, when they told us what they wanted in a speaker, they wanted ‘values,’ they wanted ‘empathy.’ They wanted someone who was a trailblazer and someone who showed resilience, which I feel she perfectly embodies.

“She was the first in her field,” Patterson said. “She’s someone who’s broken records and broken down barriers.”

Convocation is a student-led event that celebrates the achievements of the undergraduate graduating class. In addition to the guest speaker, the event will include a student speaker, student organization performances and remarks from university leadership.

There will be a pre-Convocation from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Barton that will include performances, snacks, giveaways and a senior class photo, scheduled for 12:40 p.m. and facilitated by Alumni Affairs and Development.

Patterson said this year’s seniors have decided to forgo some performances and instead focus on the achievements of as many of their classmates as possible. A compilation video, in which classmates will reminisce about their favorite academic memories and other aspects of four years at Cornell, will play during Convocation.

“That was our biggest goal – showcasing as many seniors as we could,” Patterson said, “because we see Convocation as a celebration of not a few of us, but all of us.”

Copeland, 42, has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles, including Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake”; Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”; “Giselle”; “Manon”; “Coppélia”; Kitri in “Don Quixote”; and “The Firebird,” among others.

She performed on Broadway in “On The Town” in 2015, and made her major motion picture debut in Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” in 2018.

In 2022, she launched the Misty Copeland Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to bring greater diversity, equity and inclusion to dance, especially ballet. She is an ambassador and alumna of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and is on the advisory board of MindLeaps, a Rwanda-based arts program that helps young people get into academic settings to help enhance their lives.

In 2021, Copeland received the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP’s highest honor, and in 2023 she received the Trailblazer Icon Award at The Grio Awards, was named to The Root 100 list of most influential Black Americans, and was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from New York University.

In 2024, she received the Innovator Award from the African American Film Critics Association.

Last year’s Convocation speaker was actor, comedian and screenwriter Kumail Nanjiani. Past speakers include New York Sen. Charles Schumer (2000); former President Bill Clinton (2004); activist Martin Luther King III (2006); poet Maya Angelou (2008); former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (2012); then-mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker (2013), science educator and entertainer Bill Nye ’77 (2019); and actor and singer Leslie Odom Jr. (2020, virtually).

Commencement will take place May 24 at Schoellkopf Field and will be split into two ceremonies, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; visit the Commencement website for more information.