Franklin College Commencement Ceremony 2024
10 a.m., Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Spurlock Center Gymnasium
The 2024 Franklin College Commencement Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 18 in Spurlock Center Gymnasium on campus.
The commencement speaker will be Callie Crossley, host of “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley” on GBH’s “Morning Edition” in Boston. The Rev. Gregory I. Carlson, S.J., associate professor of Literature and Theology and Associate Director of the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Creighton University, will provide the sermon for the Baccalaureate Service at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in the Spurlock Center.
Commencement Speaker
Callie Crossley hosts the radio show and podcast Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and shares radio essays each Monday on GBH’s Morning Edition. She also co- hosts The Culture Show radio program which focuses on local and national cultural trends and perspectives. And she also offers commentary about cultural issues on the evening news program Greater Boston and on Boston Public Radio, GBH Boston’s midday talk show. She is also a fill in host for the national podcast “Our Body Politic” and a frequent commentator on local and national television and radio programs.
Crossley has been quoted in a variety of publications including The Washington Post, and Vanity Fair. She was the subject of a major feature published in the August 2021 issue of Boston Magazine.
Ms. Crossley has won multiple TV, radio, and film awards, including the prestigious Gold Baton DuPont Columbia award, and an Academy Award “Oscar” nomination for her producer work on the documentary series, “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years.” She has also earned top honors for both her GBH Boston commentary and her hosting/interviewing skill, including local and national Emmys, and awards from the Associated Press, RTNDA, Edward R. Murrow, Clarion, and the Public Media Journalists Association.
Crossley is also a former producer for ABC News 20/20, and a former Visiting Fellow of the Council of Independent Colleges (formerly Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow).
She was both a Nieman Fellow and an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University and was honored as a distinguished alumna of Wellesley College in 2013, and in 2017 was named to Wellesley’s Board of Trustees. Crossley holds four Honorary Degrees: 2005 Doctorate of Arts Degree from Pine Manor College, 2009 Doctorate of Humane Letters from Cambridge College, 2018 Doctorate of Humane Letters from Wheaton College, and 2022 Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University.
Crossley has been recognized with many community awards including named one of three 2023 Distinguished Bostonians by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and in 2022 named as one of four recipients of Governor’s Award from Mass Humanities. “Get Konnected” named her one of 2021’s 50 Most Influential Women of Color in Boston. And in 2019 she received the Yankee Quill Award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association, and the Justice in Action Award from Jane Doe, Inc. In 2017 she was honored with the Open Door Award from Old South Church.
She is also featured in the 2011 book, “Boston’s Inspirational Women” co-authored by award- winning photographer Bill Brett, Kerry Brett, and Carol Beggy.
Schedule of Events
Schedule of Events (PDF)