White House Correspondent and CNN Political Analyst April Ryan Named Commencement Speaker at Bard College at Simon's Rock

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., March 8, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- April Ryan, White House reporter for American Urban Radio Networks, CNN political analyst, and award-winning author will address graduates at the 49th commencement ceremony of Bard College at Simon's Rock: The Early College on Saturday, May 19, at 11:00 a.m.

Ms. Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House – a position she has held since the Clinton era. As bureau chief of the American Urban Radio Networks, and through her Fabric of America news blog, she delivers her readership and listeners (millions of African Americans and close to 300 radio affiliates) a "unique urban and minority perspective in news." Her position as a White House correspondent has afforded her unusual insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation's last four presidents. Viewed as one of the veterans of the White House Press Corps, Ms. Ryan is the only African American to have reported daily from the White House for over twenty years.

Ms. Ryan said, "I look forward to addressing this year's bright, motivated young college graduates at Simon's Rock. As an African-American girl, I would never have thought that as a grown woman I would be a White House correspondent, a successful author, and on TV most days of the week. I worked hard to get where I am, and that hard work paid off. I hope that I can inspire the students at Simon's Rock to continue their own hard work and to speak truth to power."

"April Ryan's address is certain to be insightful, timely, and inspiring, just as her fight to bring transparency to the White House and free flow of information to the public has inspired so many of us in the Simon's Rock community," said Ian Bickford, provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon's Rock. "I am especially glad to welcome her to the hometown of W. E. B. Du Bois in this year of celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth. As a journalist, writer, and leader, Ms. Ryan's work is continuous with the work of Du Bois to confront 'the things that stand in the way of civilization,' in his words, 'by the breadth and broadening of human reason.'"

About Simon's Rock

Bard College at Simon's Rock: The Early College is the only college in the country specifically designed for bright, highly motivated students ready to enter college after the 10th or 11th grade. Simon's Rock offers a challenging program in the liberal arts and sciences, taught exclusively in small seminars by supportive, highly trained faculty, who are leading scholars in their fields. The College grants degrees in more than 35 majors. The Princeton Review's Best 380 Colleges rates academics at Simon's Rock higher than Harvard and Princeton.

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SOURCE Bard College at Simon's Rock