Gloria Steinem to Speak at 2017 School of Visual Arts Commencement Exercises

The Writer, Activist and Feminist Icon will address the SVA Community

Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 1:00pm

Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, New York City

Private event; press seats available: 212.592.2010 or proffice@sva.edu

March 1, 2017, New York, NY—School of Visual Arts is pleased to announce that writer, activist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem will be the keynote speaker at the College’s 42nd annual commencement exercises, to be held at 1:00pm on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at the landmark Radio City Music Hall, located at 1260 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. SVA President David Rhodes will confer BFA, MA, MAT, MFA and MPS degrees on some 1,170 undergraduate and graduate degree candidates enrolled in the College’s 32 academic programs. The event is ticketed and open to degree candidates and invited guests only; the exercises will stream live at sva.edu/commencement.

Gloria Steinem is known throughout the world for her groundbreaking work as a writer, lecturer and political activist and organizer focused on issues of equality, gender roles, child abuse, nonviolent conflict resolution and indigenous peoples and cultures. A champion of women’s and children’s rights, Steinem co-founded Take Our Daughters to Work Day as well as numerous national and international organizations centered around self esteem, race, education, voting, reproduction, including the Women's Action Alliance, National Women's Political Caucus, Voters for Choice, Choice USA (now URGE) and the Ms. Foundation for Women. International organizations she has co-founded include Equality Now, Donor Direct Action and Direct Impact Africa. 

Steinem’s contributions to the publishing world started in the 1970s, when she reported widely read and influential pieces on feminism, culture and politics and co-founded two iconic magazines, Ms. and New York. Her books include the bestsellers My Life on the Road, Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean. Her writing appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of Houghton Mifflin's The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Her writing has been recognized with a number of awards, including an Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, the James Weldon Johnson Award for Journalism, the University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism, the Women's Sports Journalism Award and the 2015 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. 

Steinem graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College in 1956, and she is currently working with the college’s Sophia Smith Collection to document the grassroots origins of the U.S. women's movement. Among her honors for her advocacy work are the first Doctorate of Human Justice awarded by Simmons College, the Bill of Rights Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the National Gay Rights Advocates Award, the Liberty Award of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Ceres Medal from the United Nations and a number of honorary degrees. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. In 2014, she received The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal Award and in 2013, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor. Rutgers University is now creating the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies. 

Gloria Steinem will join a distinguished group of leaders in the arts, humanities and public service who have spoken at SVA’s commencement exercises in past years, including United States Congressman and civil rights legend John Lewis, cultural critic Greil Marcus, multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, playwrights Edward Albee and Tony Kushner, historian Robert A. Caro, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, biologist Dr. Gerald Edelman, opera singer Ronan Tynan and actor B.D. Wong, as well as New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd, Nicholas Kristof and Frank Rich.

School of Visual Arts is a comprehensive college of art and design offering the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising, Animation, Cartooning, Computer art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects, Design, Film, Fine Arts, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography and Video, and Visual and Critical Studies; the degree of Master of Arts in Critical Theory and the Arts, Curatorial Practice, and Design Research, Writing and Criticism; the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching in Art Education; the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art Writing, Art Practice, Computer Art, Design, Design for Social Innovation, Fine Arts, Illustration as Visual Essay, Interaction Design, Photography, Video and Related Media, Products of Design, Social Documentary Film, and Visual Narrative; and the degree of Master of Professional Studies in Art Therapy, Branding, Digital Photography, Directing, and Fashion Photography.

SVA alumni include Guy Aroch, Renée Cox, Paul Davis, Sal DeVito, Michael Giacchino, Genevieve Gorder, Rodney Alan Greenblat, Pete Hamill, Keith Haring, Julia Hoffmann, Justine Kurland, Suzanne McClelland, Patrick McDonnell, Elizabeth Peyton, Alexis Rockman, Carlos Saldanha, Harris Savides, Kenny Scharf, Yuko Shimizu, Amy Sillman, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson and Sarah Sze.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 32 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.

Media Contact: Folake Ologunja, fologunja@sva.edu, 212.592.2164.