Jamaican Prime Minister to be Keynote Speaker at DSU’s Graduate Commencement Ceremony
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness will be the keynote speaker at Delaware State University’s Graduate Commencement Ceremony on 1 p.m. Friday, May 10th. He will be the first-ever Prime Minister to speak at a DSU Commencement event. In October 2011, Prime Minister Holness became the youngest person, at age 39, to serve as the Prime Minister of Jamaica. University President Tony Allen noted the significance of Prime Minister Holness as Keynote Speaker saying he has led Jamaica’s remarkable economic turnaround that has attracted global attention. He adds that they could not be more pleased to have a distinguished leader offer his words of wisdom to the 2024 graduating class.
Additional Information from DSU:
Jamaican Prime Minister, The Most Honorable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP
will deliver the keynote address at Delaware State’s Graduate Commencement ceremony at 1:00
pm on Friday May 10, 2024. The ceremony will be held in the William B. DeLauder Education
& Humanities Theatre on campus.
In October 2011, Prime Minister Holness became the youngest person, at age 39, to serve as the
Prime Minister of Jamaica. Before his elevation to Prime Minister and Leader of the Jamaica
Labour Party, he became a Member of the Jamaican Parliament in 1997, representing West
Central St. Andrew, a constituency he continues to represent today. He served as Opposition
Spokesperson on Education and Land and Development and worked on housing issues. He
would later serve as one of Jamaica’s most transformative Ministers of Education from 2007 to
2012.
Prime Minister Holness is the first-ever sitting Prime Minister to speak at a DSU
Commencement Ceremony. Other past notable DSU Commencement speakers include then-past
President John Kofi Agyekum of Ghana in 2015 and then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in 2016.
The University offers Ed.D., and Master’s Degree programs in Education Leadership in Jamaica
and an Associate of Art/Science Program for Jamaica’s high school students.
University President Tony Allen noted the significance of Prime Minister Holness as Keynote
Speaker saying, “Prime Minister Holness has led Jamaica’s remarkable economic turnaround that
has attracted global attention. We could not be more pleased to have a distinguished leader offer
his words of wisdom to the 2024 graduating class. We are all looking forward to hearing his
perspectives on sustainable development as he shares his vision of a shared prosperity for all.”
Also, Exelon President and CEO Calvin Butler will be the keynote speaker at the 8 a.m. Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on the same above date.
