D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to Speak at Trinity Commencement, Saturday, May 20, 2017

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to Speak at Trinity Commencement, Saturday, May 20, 2017

Mayor Muriel BowserTrinity Washington University will present an honorary doctor of laws to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at Commencement on Saturday, May 20, in recognition of her leadership of the city of Washington and her commitment to public service. She will be the featured speaker at Trinity’s 114th Commencement. The ceremony begins at 11:00 am and more than 250 undergraduate and graduate degrees will be awarded.

“Mayor Bowser is one of only a very few women who are mayors of major cities in the United States,” said President Patricia McGuire. “She is a strong advocate for participation in public service and is pursuing an ambitious and positive agenda for our city. She holds Trinity and our students and graduates in very high regard and I know she will have a powerful message at Commencement.”

Bowser is a native Washingtonian and a graduate of a women’s college, Chatham University in Pittsburgh. In May 2016, she and President McGuire received honorary degrees from Chatham. In June 2016, Bowser came to Trinity’s campus to speak at the dedication of the Payden Academic Center.

Sworn in on January 2, 2015, as the seventh elected mayor of Washington, D.C., Bowser pledged to bring a fresh start to the city, create pathways to the middle class for residents, and foster a culture of inclusion, transparency and action. She has expanded opportunity across all eight Wards of D.C. by strengthening job training programs and making investments in education to accelerate the pace of education reform. She is also dedicated to preserving and expanding affordable housing and committed $100 million to the Housing Production Trust Fund.

Prior to her election as mayor, Bowser served as the Ward 4 council member on the D.C. Council. She was first elected in a special election in 2007, and re-elected in 2008 and 2012. As a council member, Bowser served as chair of the Committee on Economic Development which created more than 5,000 units of affordable housing, passed legislation to build a new soccer stadium and secured from the federal government a major portion of the Walter Reed campus for D.C. Bowser led her colleagues to pass comprehensive ethics reform and increased transparency in government contracting. She was succeeded by Trinity graduate Brandon Todd ’09. In addition to her bachelor’s degree in history from Chatham, Bowser earned a master’s degree in public policy from American University.