Denison University has announced the student commencement speaker for the Class of 2021: Sara Abou Rashed ‘21. The title her speech is “Come Celebrate with Me.”

Rashed is a Palestinian-American poet and public speaker from Columbus, Ohio. She has delivered a TEDx talk and keynoted at numerous universities and conferences, such as the National Convention of Teachers of English, the United States of Women, and Senator Sherrod Brown’s Women’s Leadership Summit.

A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems appear in over 12 publications, including a high school language arts curriculum by McGraw-Hill. In 2018, Sara wrote and performed across the US her autobiographical one-woman show titled, A Map of Myself, about immigration, war, and finding home. At Denison, Sara majored in creative writing and international studies, and will be pursuing her MFA in creative writing at the University of Michigan.

April 13, 2021