Renowned journalist and author Frank Bruni will deliver UNC’s commencement address to the Class of 2022 in May, the school announced last week.

Bruni, a former columnist for the New York Times and author of three bestselling books, graduated from UNC in 1986. Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz shared the selection on February 10.

According to the announcement from the school, Guskiewicz originally invited Bruni to speak at the Class of 2020’s commencement, before that was cancelled due to the pandemic. Drs. Anthony Fauci and Kizzmekia Corbett delivered the address at the Class of 2021’s commencement, while former UNC men’s basketball head coach Roy Williams spoke to the Class of 2020 in their belated ceremony in October.

Bruni arrived at Carolina as a Morehead-Cain Scholar, and majored in English while writing for The Daily Tar Heel. He then earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Since the, Bruni has written for the Detroit Free Press, New York Post and New York Times as both a reporter and columnist. With the Free Press, Bruni covered the first Persian Gulf War and was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Currently, he writes opinion pieces and a weekly newsletter for the Times. He is also a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

In addition to his three bestsellers, Bruni has also written a cookbook and is preparing to publish a memoir, “The Beauty of Dusk,” which chronicles his life after partially losing his eyesight.

“Frank Bruni is one of my favorite writers, and he also happens to be one of Carolina’s many esteemed and accomplished alumni,” said Guskiewicz. “He’s written extensively on higher education, civic engagement and public service, and I believe he is uniquely suited to address our graduates at this critical time.”

“I appreciate and believe in the mission of public education,” Bruni said. “The fact that Carolina is one of the country’s great universities and provides education at a reachable price for a lot of young Americans is important to me. Any of us who have been as well-served in our lives by our alma mater as I have want to return that favor.”

Commencement for UNC’s Class of 2022 is set for Sunday, May 8 in Kenan Stadium at 9 a.m. More about the event can be found on the university’s website.

 

Featured image via Duke University.

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