Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, has driven the conversation about lynching across the country since 2010, culminating in the debut of the $20 million museum in Montgomery, Ala. Credit: Ricky Carioti via TNS
Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy” and a lawyer and social justice activist, was named Ohio State’s May 7 spring commencement keynote speaker, the university announced Tuesday.
More than 12,000 degrees and certificates will be awarded in Ohio Stadium. According to the release, Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative — an organization that advocates for racial justice, criminal justice reform and anti-poverty. He will be awarded a Doctor in Public Service.
The organization has done work to break down barriers in the justice system under Stevenson’s leadership, according to the release. These include winning “legal challenges eliminating and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill.”
Stevenson’s novel, “Just Mercy,” which features his efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian, was named in the top 10 of best books for nonfiction by Time Magazine in 2014, according to the release.
University President Kristina M. Johnson said in the release Stevenson has saved lives through his work and is looking forward to his remarks.
“Bryan Stevenson’s steadfast commitment to justice, fairness and equality has saved countless lives, and the example he has set through his life’s work in combating bias in the criminal justice system is one our graduates will greatly benefit from,” Johnson said.
Stevenson has also led the creation of two historical sites that document the history of slavery, lynching, racial segregation and its impact on mass incarceration and the foundation of racial bias, according to the release.
In addition to Stevenson, Carla Hayden, Donna James and Keith B. Key will also receive honorary degrees and speak at the ceremony, according to the release.
Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress and former president of the American Library Association, will be honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters. Hayden “was the first African American to receive the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award” in 1995, according to the Library of Congress website.
James, a Columbus entrepreneur and financial advisor who currently serves on the boards of L Brands, Boston Scientific, Marathon Petroleum, FIS Groups and OhioHealth, will be awarded a Doctor of Business Administration. She served for 25 years as president of Nationwide Strategic Investments and was appointed chair of the National Women’s Business Council by former President Barack Obama, according to the City of Columbus website.
Key, CEO of Keith B. Key Enterprises and Omni Management Group and a former Ohio State football player, will be honored with a Doctor Public Service for his over $1 billion committed to real estate development — including “residential, commercial and religious-oriented projects,” according to the KBK Buckeye Social Entrepreneurship Program website.
In addition, Distinguished Service Award winners Karen A. Bell and G. Gilbert Cloyd will be honored by the university.
Bell, professor emerita and dean of the College of the Arts, “was named the university’s first associate vice president for Arts Outreach” in 2008. Bell served on the board for the American College Dance Festival Association for 12 years and is a past evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Dance.
Cloyd served as chief technology officer of Procter & Gamble, where he oversaw the company’s research and development organization, consisting of 28 centers around the world and 9,000 employees, according to the release. Cloyd is also an alumnus of the university, graduating with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1969, and he was the chair of Ohio State’s Board of Trustees from 2007-09.
The university’s spring commencement will begin at noon. More information can be found on the commencement website.
