Emory Class Day Crossover features Kal Penn, actor and former White House staffer

By Michelle Ricker April 13, 2023

Kal Penn — actor, writer, producer and former associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement — has been named the keynote speaker for Emory’s 2023 Class Day Crossover.

Class Day Crossover is a multi-part event that celebrates students receiving bachelor’s degrees from Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Goizueta Business School, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the Emory School of Medicine (Medical Imaging Program). This year’s event will be Thursday, May 4, at 6 p.m. in the Emory Student Center.

The celebration will include a senior reception, a program with remarks from Penn and Emory leaders plus senior awards, the candlelight crossover, a party on McDonough Field, and activities for alumni, staff, faculty and community members.

Kal Penn has been named the keynote speaker for Class Day Crossover, a celebration of the Class of 2023, happening May 4.

Photo provided by Kal Penn

Penn is best known for his starring roles in “Designated Survivor,” “House,” the “Harold & Kumar” franchise and “Sunnyside,” which he co-created for NBC. From 2009-11, Penn took a sabbatical from acting and served in the Obama/Biden administration as the president’s liaison to young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the arts community. He worked on a range of issues in these roles, including the Affordable Care Act, Pell Grants, arts and culture programs, the DREAM Act, rapid response to the 2010 BP Oil spill and 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

He was a national co-chair for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and served on the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities. That work focused on arts education and cultural diplomacy, including the first-ever U.S. government arts delegation to Cuba.

Penn currently stars in the animated Disney Junior series “Mira, Royal Detective” and recently guest hosted "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central.

“We are so excited for Kal Penn because of his impressive acting and political career, and we’re certain his perspective will resonate with students,” says Anna Rhoads, a senior studying finance who has been involved in planning Class Day.

“Kal Penn broke into Hollywood despite institutional barriers, said ‘no’ to roles that perpetuated stereotypes and made an admirable career switch into public service. I’m looking forward to the senior class coming together and feeling inspired by his life as we enter the next chapter of ours,” Rhoads says.

Each year’s Class Day speaker is chosen by students. Previous speakers include Scott Kelly, Chelsea Handler, Adam Richman, Kenneth Cole, Mia Farrow, Peyton Manning, Ben & Jerry, Bill Nye and Chipper Jones.

Class Day Crossover activities

In addition to remarks by Penn, the Class Day Program (open to undergraduate seniors) will include the presentation of four senior awards. The Boisfeuillet Jones Medals honor students for good citizenship, outstanding leadership, devoted service to Emory and the community, academic performance and potential to become a “change agent” in their chosen profession and society at large.

The Brit Katz Senior Appreciation Award is presented to an administrator or staff member selected by seniors for service as a role model and friend to the senior class, for participation in the Emory community beyond their professional duty and who is deemed worthy of special recognition.

The Knights of Emory Spirit Awards recognize two outstanding seniors who have made great contributions to the university and promote Emory spirit with passion and selflessness.

The Lightkeeper of Emory Award, given by the Order of Ammon, is bestowed upon a graduating senior unafraid to engage in divergent thought; motivated by an instinct to turn bold ideas into progress; and guided by an uncommon, radical empathy. Students named Lightkeepers have led efforts to foster a more inclusive Emory, leaving behind an enduring legacy without actively seeking recognition.

Another highlight of the event will be the Candlelight Crossover, a tradition that symbolizes undergraduate Emory students officially “crossing over” from student to alumni status. Graduating undergraduate students will cross together from the Emory Student Center to McDonough Field for a party in their honor with a DJ, free food, photobooths and more. Students will be surrounded by alumni and community members also lining the path to McDonough with candles in-hand. The student events will start at 6 p.m.

Call for alumni, faculty, staff and community members

Emory alumni, faculty, staff, and other Emory community members are invited to light the way and cheer on the graduates during the Candlelight Crossover. All community members are also invited to enjoy a complimentary reception with beer, wine, appetizers and Emory swag at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Plaza before lining up to welcome the students in the Crossover procession. Watch this video for a snapshot of what to expect.

Participation is strongly encouraged for all who work with and/or support Emory students; please register to attend.

Alumni are invited to return to campus to celebrate the newest graduates and reconnect with Emory all throughout Commencement weekend.

Commencement activities

Emory’s 178th Commencement events will take place May 5-8. Activist, writer and justice advocate Anthony Ray Hinton will serve as keynote speaker for the Emory University Commencement Ceremony, scheduled for Monday, May 8, at 8:30 a.m. on the Emory Quadrangle.

The Emory University Commencement Ceremony is a ticketed event for 2023 graduates and their guests. The ceremony will be livestreamed for the entire Emory community.

Learn more at Emory’s Commencement website.

Recent News

By downloading Emory news media, you agree to the following terms of use:

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

License grant.
1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
  1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part; and
  2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material.
2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
5. Downstream recipients.
  1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
  2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).
Other rights.
1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

Attribution.
1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:
  1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
    1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
    2. a copyright notice;
    3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
    4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
    5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
  2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
  3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
  For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database, provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4 supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.

The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.
Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:
1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Class Day Crossover activities

Call for alumni, faculty, staff and community members

Commencement activities

Tags

Recent News