Chimamanda Adichie’s undoubtedly one of the all-time great Nigerian exports. In a country with such rich literary culture, Ms. Adichie waves the flag as the most prolific and revered of her generation and this has been reflected in the adaptation of her Half of A Yellow Sun book into a film, Beyonce sampling her We Should All Be Feminists speech, collabs with brands like Dior and the acquisition of her Americanah book. That said, she will be adding another laurel to the list during Graduation Season later in the year.
Ivy League University, the University of Penn which was founded by 100 dollar bill face, Benjamin Franklin and boasts of alumni like Warren Buffett, Kwame Nkrumah, Elon Musk, Noam Chomsky, Donald Trump, John Legend and Nigeria’s first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe has announced that Ms. Adichie will deliver the commencement speech at its 2020 Graduation ceremony on the 18th of May. Ms. Adichie will also be given the university’s highest degree- honorary doctor of humane letters.
Ms. Adichie was spoken of as;
“Her compelling narratives and absolutely fascinating commentary on complex cultural issues elevate the power of the individual voice.”
In American parlance, the commencement speech refers to the speech delivered by a prominent invited guest at a graduation ceremony. They are largely free form and designed to convey an important message that could be advisory or inspirational but ultimately, essential for the new graduates to hear.
We look forward to another potential Adichie classic.