![An artist rendering of a vision for the new front entrance to the UM-Dearborn campus, featuring a new "quad" between the Mardigian Library and the Renick University Center](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2024-06/CCP%20Forum%20Presentation%2003Jun24-31-2.jpg?h=f0fb51a5&itok=DZHapVWn)
This spring’s commencement season will bring back some of the traditional graduation bells and whistles, including a big-name commencement speaker. Poet Nikki Giovanni, renowned for her socially conscious work on gender and race, will address UM-Dearborn graduates in a pre-recorded video. The student speaker is CASL senior and writer Lena Hakim, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Arab American studies. She will also address the audience via video. Chancellor Domenico Grasso and Provost Sue Alcock will also speak to graduates. The pre-recorded addresses will be played live at each of the in-person, socially distanced commencement ceremonies taking place April 29 through May 4. They will also be shown on Facebook Live through the university Facebook account.