John Legend to speak at the College graduation

A legendary speaker will grace the stage at this year's College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony.

R&B; musician John Legend, who graduated from Penn in 1999 with a degree in English with an emphasis in African American literature, will return for the 10th anniversary of his own graduation to address the College's Class of 2009. The ceremony will be on May 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Field.

He will join Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt, who will speak at the University-wide graduation ceremony on May 18.

While at Penn, Legend - known in that time by his given name, John Stevens - was a member of Counterparts, a coed a cappella group.

Since then, Legend's music career has taken off, with three major album releases, the most recent of which is 2008's Evolver. He has also collaborated with major artists like Kanye West and the Black Eyed Peas.

"John exemplifies the best of the Penn and the College spirit," College Dean Dennis DeTurck wrote in an e-mail. "Besides being a world-class musical talent, John has given substantial time and effort to a number of causes that fight ignorance and poverty around the world."

Legend is involved with a variety of anti-poverty efforts, including the Show Me Campaign, which was launched in 2007 and whose title comes from Legend's 2006 song Show Me. The campaign promotes "sustainable development at the individual, family, and community levels," according to Legend's Web site.

He is also involved in Rock the Vote, a group that encourages young people to register to vote, as well as Management Leadership for Tomorrow, which aims to develop minority leaders in corporations and nonprofit organizations.

College senior and senior class president Brett Perlmutter called the Legend choice "awesome news."

"He's a perfect example of what Penn students can do after they leave," Perlmutter said, pointing to Legend's success in music and business, as well as "giving a lot back to the community."

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