Jelani Cobb will serve as this year’s Commemoration keynote speaker. Cobb is a staff writer at The New Yorker, writing on race, history, justice, politics and democracy, as well as Columbia University's Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Dean of Columbia Journalism School.

Cobb recently co-edited “The Matter of Black Lives,” a collection of The New Yorker's most ground-breaking writing on Black history and culture in America, featuring the work of legendary writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by Jan. 25 to University Events at 541-737-4717 or events@oregonstate.edu. Sign language interpreting and live captioning will be provided.