MANHATTAN — NYU graduates getting ready to head into the real world next month will get a sendoff from one of the leading legal pioneers in the fight to legalize gay marriage.
David Boies, the attorney arguing in the Supreme Court against the California anti-gay marriage amendment Proposition 8, will be NYU's commencement speaker at the Yankee Stadium ceremony on May 22, the university announced Tuesday morning.
An NYU School of Law alumni, Boies will be honored along with New Yorker Edith Windsor, whose challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act is also being heard by the nation's highest court.
Boies will receive an honorary doctorate in law. Filmmaker Oliver Stone, National Museum of Afghanistan director Omara Khan Masoudi and genome scientist Claire Marie Fraser will receive honorary degrees as well, NYU announced.
Windsor, who was also selected as grand marshal of the NYC Pride March on June 30, will receive an award along with philanthropists and donors to the NYU Langone Medical Center Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller, and nurse Kimberly Glassman, who saved lives at the same hospital after Hurricane Sandy.
Soon-to-be-bachelors degree recipient Chelsea I. Garbell, a media major and Rhodes Scholarship finalist, will speak on behalf of the student body.
Bronx-born Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave NYU's commencement speech last year, delivering a love letter to her home town and encouraging graduates to cultivate "an ever-present curiosity."
President Bill Clinton delivered a speech at the 2011 graduation ceremony on economic inequality and environmental conservation. And actor Alec Baldwin gave a 2010 speech on choosing a career path that helps society.
