TARANA BURKE, KEVIN KWAN, ROBERT MUNDHEIM NAMED HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS BY THE NEW SCHOOL

Recipients will deliver short impactful speeches at the university's 83rd Commencement Exercises on Friday, May 17 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Queens

A festival on the newly renovated Tennis Center South Plaza featuring music and entertainment will follow the ceremony

Clockwise from left: The New School honorary degree recipients Tarana Burke, and Kevin Kwan; student Commencement speaker Ta Kasitipradit; and honorary degree recipient Robert Mundheim.

NEW YORK, March 28, 2019 — Me Too Movement founder Tarana Burke; New York Times best-selling author and Parsons alumnus Kevin Kwan; and philanthropist, attorney, and longtime New School Trustee Robert Mundheim will receive honorary degrees and address graduates at The New School’s 83rd commencement exercises on Friday, May 17 at 11:30 a.m.

New School President David E. Van Zandt will preside over the ceremony, which will take place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Livestream.

This year’s ceremony takes place during the New School’s Centennial celebration year, which honors its legacy of academic freedom, tolerance, and free intellectual exchange, as it looks ahead to the next century.

The honorary degree recipients will take turns sharing their well-earned wisdom with The New School’s graduating class through brief, impactful talks that get to the heart of their advice.

"True to our founders' vision, The New School continues to evolve to meet the challenges of the global economy, preparing students as scholars, global citizens and changemakers,” said Van Zandt. “As we mark the university’s Centennial, we are thrilled to honor Tarana Burke, Kevin Kwan, and Robert Mundheim — inspiring individuals who, through their social activism, vision, and public service, have worked to address pressing social issues and challenge the status quo.”

The honorees are:

• Tarana Burke is a New York City-born community organizer and civil rights activist who considers her life’s work to be to help young women and girls to live self-determined lives. She founded the Me Too Movement more than a decade ago, which has brought the conversation around sexual violence and the need for survivor-centered solutions into the mainstream. Her belief that healing isn't a destination but a journey has touched and inspired millions of survivors who previously lived with the pain, shame and trauma of their assaults in isolation.

• Kevin Kwan, BFA Photography, is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. His novels have been translated into over 30 languages, and the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians became the highest grossing romantic comedy in a decade. Kevin was named to Time Magazine’s List of 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2018. Born in Singapore, Kevin moved to the United States at age 11 and is a graduate of Parsons School of Design.

• Robert Mundheim connects deeply to The New School’s legacy as the University in Exile through his personal experience as a refugee from Nazi Europe in the early twentieth century. He has served in the U.S. Air Force; as General Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department where, in 1981, he played a substantial role in negotiating the release of U.S. hostages in Iran; and was dean of the School of Law at the University of Pennsylvania from 1982-1989. Since 1999, he has been Of Counsel to Shearman & Sterling, where he began his career in the late 1950s. He continues to make invaluable contributions to the university as a Trustee and member of the Board of Governors of the New School for Social Research.

• Ta Kasitipradit, the student Commencement speaker, will graduate with a BFA degree in Communication Design at Parsons School of Design. He is a graphic design romantic with a passion for editorial design and motion graphics, and his artistic work is an intersection of structure, insight, and whimsicality. Originally from Chiang Mai, Thailand, Kasitipradit has lived in Canada, China, and the United States. He has been deeply engaged with the New School community as a Resident Advisor at Kerrey Hall, Leadership Retreat participant and leader, student advocate, and meditation guide. In 2018, Kasitipradit was honored with a Student Leadership Award, receiving the Outstanding International Leadership at The New School.

Following the graduation ceremony, The New School will host a celebratory festival on the South Plaza featuring music, food, a pop-up shop of New School-themed swag from The New Store, and a photo booth.

The New School’s Class of 2019 is made up of more than 2,000 associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral graduates in art and design, the social sciences, the humanities, management, and the performing arts.

Founded in 1919, The New School was established to advance academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. A century later, The New School remains at the forefront of innovation in higher education, inspiring more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students to challenge the status quo in art and design, the social sciences, the liberal arts, management, the performing arts, and media. Learn more at www.newschool.edu.

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Merrie Snead
The New School
646-909-4684
[email protected]