AMHERST — Hampshire College has announced that human rights leader and author Loretta Ross will be the school’s 2018 commencement speaker.
Ross, who is credited as one of the creators of the term “reproductive justice,” is a longtime champion of women’s rights, human rights and antiracism.
“I have a deep love and profound respect for the mission and legacy of Hampshire College,” Ross, who this year is a visiting women’s studies professor at the college, said in a statement.
Ross co-directed the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in the nation’s capital, and has founded the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the National Center for Human Rights Education — both in Atlanta. In the 1980s, Ross led delegations of women of color to international conferences as part of her Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women.
Ross’s connection to Hampshire dates back some 30 years, when she partnered with professor Marlene Fried on women’s rights and reproductive rights campaigns. Since then, she has frequently been a guest speaker at the college’s Civil Liberties and Public Policy program’s conference.
The class Ross teaches this year at Hampshire is about white supremacy in the age of President Donald Trump. Previously, she has also served as an activist-in-resident at Smith College, where she has an honorary doctorate and where her papers are stored.
Hampshire College’s graduation is scheduled for May 19.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.