The University of Southern California announced this week that Karen Bass will be the keynote speaker for the university’s 136th commencement ceremony. As a resident of Southern California, the top universities’ announcement of their graduation speakers is very popular news citywide as it is common that major celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Will Ferrell, Bill and Melinda Gates make appearances. UCLA is having their 100th graduation ceremony and the entire city is eager to learn who will be given to honor to speak on their centesimal commencement.
Many received the word that Bass was selected among many bright, inspirational alumni to give the 2019 graduation speech and since she is not in the public eye from music or television, many students of USC are not familiar with her. Karen Ruth Bass is an American Democratic Politician who is currently serving her 5th term on the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 37th district, is the Study and Review Chair for the Steering and Policy Committee, and is the Vice Chair for the Congressional Black Caucus. Prior, Bass served as the Speaker of the California Assembly and was the notably first African American woman to earn this title. She has received very prestigious awards for her political leadership such as the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2010.
Bass was born and raised in Southern California and attended San Diego State University as well as California State University Domingez Hills for her undergraduate education. Her background is in health as she studied Health and Sciences while at CSUDH and worked for USC’s Keck school of Medicine as a clinical instructor, teaching PA classes. Her passion for activism started at an early age, after college, Bass started Community Coalition to address the epidemic of cocaine use in Los Angeles. As a nurse and PA instructor, Bass saw many cases in the ER exemplifying the repercussions of cocaine use in health, violence, and mental stability. Her goal was to involve the community of South Los Angeles through education and awareness to shift policy away from public enforcement and toward public health. Bass was the executive chair and founder of this organization for over a decade and through her dedicated time along the way, the organization went from a $300K budget to a $3M budget before bass handed the executive responsibilities to another activist.
Currently, Karen Bass is a major figure in the public eye as she has been featured on every major political news television channel, has had several press releases this year, and is one of the first polical figures broadcasted when responding to President Trumps ideals. Bass’ involvement in policy make her an extraordinary public intellectual to send off the newest USC graduating class.
Sources: https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/karen-bass/. https://bass.house.gov https://bass.house.gov/media-center/press-releases https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/john-f-kennedy-profile-in-courage-award-may-24-2010/ https://bass.house.gov/about/biography
Intellect Insider 
I am so glad you did a piece on Karen Bass. My friends & I were curious about our speaker this year. Thanks to you, I now know she has been quite an accomplished figure and we are welcome to have her as our commencement speaker. She isn’t as publicly notable like Will Ferrell or Bill Gates, but she has clearly done a lot on her own and isn’t a bad pick for this year.
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Thank you for informing me about Karen Bass and all of her impressive endeavors. I am excited to hear her speak this year. She is clearly a well-rounded and more than accomplished figure. I think it is important to have speakers who are not necessarily in the public eye or “famous,” but are instead are exemplary figures who happen to be under the radar. I also think it is important for USC to include speakers who have made strides towards the community of South Los Angeles.
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