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Valarie Kaur to Deliver Stanford University's 2013 Baccalaureate Lecture

LISA LAPIN

Stanford University's 122nd Commencement Weekend, which is scheduled for June 14-16, 2013, will feature New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the 2013 Commencement speaker.

The Baccalaureate address will be given by alumna Valarie Kaur, an award-winning filmmaker, civil rights advocate and interfaith organizer.

She is the founding director of Groundswell, a non-profit initiative at Auburn Seminary that mobilizes people of faith in social action. Currently a Fellow at Yale Law School, Sikh-American Valarie Kaur is the founding director of the Yale Visual Law Project, where she makes documentary films and trains students in the art of visual advocacy.

For the last decade, she has combined storytelling and advocacy to lead campaigns for racial dignity, religious pluralism, immigrant rights, prison reform, and LGBTQ and gender equality.

Her award-winning film Divided We Fall (2008), with Sharat Raju, earned national attention as the first feature documentary on post-9/11 racism and continues to inspire national grassroots dialogue. As a civil rights advocate, she has clerked on the Senate Judiciary Committee, traveled to Guantanamo to report on the military commissions, filed a landmark immigrant rights lawsuit with her clinic team in law school, and led a high-profile campaign against racial profiling with a coalition in East Haven, Connecticut.

Valarie Kaur first spoke at Stanford's Baccalaureate as a student speaker in 2003, after being elected by her class. That year she earned Bachelor's degrees in Religion and International Relations. She went on to earn a Master's degree in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School as a Harvard Presidential Scholar, and a Law degree at Yale Law School as a Knight Law and Media Scholar.

"Valarie's unique as a Baccalaureate speaker, having been the student speaker when she graduated from Stanford a decade ago," said Scotty McLennan, Stanford's Dean for Religious Life. "Ever since, she's been a tireless and very effective national advocate for positive interfaith relations and for civil rights, especially in relation to post-9/11 bigotry and violence. We're very proud to have her as this year's speaker."

The Class Presidents added: "We are excited to hear from Valarie Kaur, because as a Stanford alumnus, she shares and embodies many of the values associated with Stanford students. These values include the power of individuals to make a difference in the face of adversity and the importance of real social change. We believe her diverse background, creative vision and exceptional story will inspire students to pursue their deepest passions in innovative contexts."

Stanford's 122nd Baccalaureate ceremony is part of a celebration for graduates, their families and friends, and members of the Stanford community.

The Baccalaureate ceremony will be held on the Main Quad on Saturday, June 15, 2013. 

[Courtesy: Stanford News. Edited for sikhchic.com]

February 27, 2013

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