Author Salman Rushdie to be Keynote Speaker for Undergraduate Commencement

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to welcome author Salman Rushdie as keynote speaker for the university’s undergraduate commencement exercises on May 7 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise. NSU will award Rushdie an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

The commencement speech by Rushdie will serve as a capstone for the Farquhar College year-long interdisciplinary exploration of the theme of “Good and Evil” through classroom activities and public events. Throughout 2005–2006, the college welcomed to campus leaders in the arts, sciences, and public affairs whose lives and work offer valuable perspective on issues of tolerance, acceptance, and social justice.  “I am excited and thrilled. Here is a man who put principles and ideas on the line and is the perfect commencement speaker. He not only goes well with the year’s theme of good and evil, but is a shining example to students in deed and word about standing up for beliefs and commitment,” said Gary Gershman, Ph.D., an assistant professor of history and legal studies in the Division of Humanities.

Rushdie has written more than 15 novels and short story collections and is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread Book Award. He is widely regarded as a leading novelist of the 20th century and a strong advocate of free expression in writing. “Rushdie exemplifies not only creative brilliance, but courage,” said David McNaron, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy in the Division of Humanities. Rushdie gained widespread international attention in 1988. After publication of his novel The Satanic Verses, he was forced into hiding by an Iranian government death sentence issued against him in response to the book.

For more information, go to www.undergrad.nova.edu/commencement.