While at the CDU party congress on her successor as party leader was voted, the University of Harvard has announced a special date for the Chancellor: In May next year Angela Merkel will give a speech at the graduation ceremony of the elite university. As the college in the East Coast state Massachusetts announced, Merkel is scheduled as a keynote speaker at the event on May 30.
Harvard President Larry Bacow described the Chancellor as one of the "most admired and influential" political leaders of our time. During her four terms as Chancellor, her leadership not only determined Germany's course, but also that of Europe and the world.
Our 2019 Commencement speaker wants to be ... https://t.co/otHfJK8vmK pic.twitter.com/6tIazNOTby
- Harvard University (@Harvard) December 7, 2018Merkel continues to play a key role in addressing some of the great challenges of our time. He was pleased to hear a "certainly unforgettable" speech, Bacow added. A short video was published on the university's Twitter channel, announcing that Merkel was a speaker.
At major US universities, it is common for politicians or other celebrities to give a speech to graduates. At Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Kofi Annan have been keynote speakers at the academic farewell party in recent years. The former Chancellors Konrad Adenauer (1955), Helmut Schmidt (1979) and Helmut Kohl (1990) were also allowed to speak at the event. In 1987, the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker was invited as a speaker.