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Angela Y. Davis, a celebrated political activist, professor and author deeply involved in social justice movements around the world, was elected by the class of 2026 to deliver keynote remarks during this year’s commencement ceremony in May. 

Davis started her activist journey while growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, which was one of the most segregated cities in the country. She received national attention in 1969 after being removed from her teaching position in UCLA’s philosophy department due to her social activism and membership in the Communist Party USA. She was also associated with other groups including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party. In the early 1970s, Davis was imprisoned for more than a year and later acquitted, becoming an international symbol of political repression and resistance. Her 16-month incarceration sparked a massive international “Free Angela Davis” campaign, which led to her acquittal in 1972. She has described this time as a “formative” period for what became her lifelong work in prisoner rights.

Davis' association with The Claremont Colleges dates to the 1970s when she served as a lecturer with the colleges' Black Studies Center in 1975-76. Decades later, she would return to Claremont to deliver commencement remarks at �鶹ԭ�� in 2012 and served at Pomona College as the history department's Ena H. Thompson Distinguished Lecturer in 2021.

Her work for more than 60 years has focused on prisons, police, abolition and the related intersections of race, gender, and class. She is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison-industrial complex. She is the author of many books, from “Angela Davis: An Autobiography” to “Freedom is a Constant Struggle.” Her recent books include “Abolition. Feminism. Now.” (written with Gina Dent, Erica Meiners and Beth Richie) and the book of essays “Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol.1.” Davis is distinguished professor emerita of the history of consciousness and feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

It is part of �鶹ԭ�� tradition for the graduating class to choose their commencement speaker. In addition to the speaker, graduating seniors also select their class speaker and student marshals.

To learn more about �鶹ԭ��'s 62nd commencement ceremony, visit our commencement page.