Brooklyn College feels the ‘Bern’ at 2017 graduation
Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses the students at his Alma Mater
On Tuesday, Vermont Senator and former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders returned to his Brooklyn roots to address the 2017 Brooklyn College graduating class at Barclays Center. Sanders was born and raised in Brooklyn and graduated from James Madison High School in 1959, before attending Brooklyn College, where he studied for one year before transferring to the University of Chicago.
Sanders was invited to be the Keynote Speaker and named Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. He wished the graduating class luck in all of its future endeavors and said that on behalf of himself and his wife Jane, he prayed that all “live healthy and happy lives doing the work you enjoy, surrounded in love by family and friends.”
He thanked Brooklyn College President Michelle Anderson, Chief of Staff to the President Nichole Haas and the Brooklyn College administration, faculty and staff for inviting him back to Brooklyn. Sanders received loud applause when he said, “I grew up in Flatbush and like Sen. Schumer graduated from James Madison High School. My wife Jane was also raised in Flatbush and Bedford-Stuyvesant and graduated from Saint Saviour High School a few miles away from here. In 1959 as a first generation college student I attended Brooklyn College for a year, a year which had a major impact on my life.”