Newswise — Wendy Kopp, president and founder of Teach for America, will deliver the spring commencement address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chancellor James Moeser has announced.
Moeser will preside at the ceremony, set for May 14, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. in Kenan Stadium.
"Teach for America embodies the same ideals of public service and equal opportunity through education that are so highly prized here at Carolina," Moeser said. "Our students will benefit from hearing a speaker of Wendy Kopp's caliber, whose values so closely mirror those of our own campus community.
"I am delighted that Wendy's participation in commencement will help further establish an already strong bond between Teach for America and our university."
Moeser chose Kopp in close consultation with the commencement speaker selection committee, composed of an equal number of students and faculty and chaired by executive associate provost Steve Allred.
"I'm extremely excited about the selection of Wendy Kopp as our commencement speaker," said Student Body President Seth Dearmin. "She has a tremendous story to tell, and everyone in Kenan Stadium will be able to benefit from the lessons of service and the value of education that she will impart."
Teach for America recruits graduating seniors from top colleges to teach for two years, at entry-level wages, in some of the nation's most disadvantaged grade schools.
Bobby Whisnant Jr., senior class president, said that Kopp was a good choice because Teach for America is an organization with which Carolina students can identify.
"She can address the senior class about how they can make a difference in the community and in people's lives," he said. "That's one thing I definitely think she is bringing to the table as the commencement speaker. We are looking forward to an uplifting address that will be meaningful for students."
Kopp conceived the idea for Teach for America when she was a senior at Princeton University. Troubled by educational inequities facing children in low-income communities, she also was convinced that many in her generation were looking for ways to make a positive difference in the world.
She developed the idea in her senior thesis. The first year, 1990, 2,500 graduates of 100 colleges applied; nearly 500 were selected and trained by volunteer teachers and teacher educators. Businesses and foundations donated $2.5 million to start the program.
Last spring, more than 17,000 seniors applied to the program, competing for 2,100 slots. Currently, Teach for America fields 3,500 teachers, called corps members, and has more than 10,000 alumni. Program officials say the alumni work from within and outside the field of education toward changes needed to ensure educational excellence and equity.
By the end of the current academic year, 250 Carolina graduates will have joined Teach for America. The organization was the largest single employer of choice last spring among UNC seniors, with 43 joining the organization.
At that point, UNC ranked third in the nation behind Michigan and Cornell in participation. Currently, 79 UNC graduates teach for the organization.
In her book, "One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way" (Public Affairs, 2001), Kopp describes how she founded and built the organization. She also discusses what is needed to realize its goal: equal opportunity across the nation for every child to attain an excellent education.
"I feel so strongly that at this time we have to be as focused as ever about addressing the old challenges that keep us from being the land of opportunity, like addressing the disparities that exist in our public education system," Kopp said in 2002, speaking at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. "Young people bring a fresh perspective to problems some leaders see as unsolvable."
Kopp is on the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the National Council on Teacher Quality.
She is on the board of directors of the New Teacher Project, a national nonprofit organization that works to increase the number of outstanding individuals who become public school teachers and create environments for school teachers that help maximize student achievement.
Kopp holds honorary doctorates from six universities and was the youngest person and first woman to receive her alma mater's Woodrow Wilson Award (1993), the highest honor that Princeton confers on undergraduate alumni. In 1994, Time magazine recognized her as one of 40 most promising leaders under 40.
In 2003, Kopp received Child magazine's Children's Champion Award, the Clinton Center Award for Leadership and National Service (from the Democratic Leadership Council, a network of party leaders and elected officials) and the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award from the Schwab Foundation of San Mateo, Calif.
She also has received Aetna's Voice of Conscience Award (1994), the Citizen Activist Award from the Gleitsman Foundation of Malibu, Calif. (1994), the Jefferson Award for Public Service (from the American Institute for Public Service, in 1991) and the Kilby Young Innovator Award (from the Kilby International Awards Foundation of Dallas, Texas, in 1991).
Note: For more information about Teach for America, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org.
Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/visiting/kopp_wendy2.jpg
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