First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver the address for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s spring commencement, Saturday, May 12, at the Greensboro Coliseum. The doors open at 7:30 a.m. N.C. A&T will graduate more than 1,200 students across nine schools and colleges. 

“We are honored and delighted that First Lady Michelle Obama will be joining us as the speaker for our spring commencement ceremonies,” said A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. “This will be a historic occasion that the graduates and their guests will not soon forget.”

Mrs. Obama is a product of the Chicago public schools. She studied sociology and African American studies at Princeton University in New Jersey. She went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1988 and then joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she later met the man who would become her husband and the nation’s first African American president. 

She worked as an attorney for a few years before deciding to work with people to serve their communities and neighbors. She has served as assistant commissioner of planning and development in Chicago's City Hall before becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that prepares youth for public service. 

In 1996, Mrs. Obama joined the University of Chicago. As associate dean of student services, she developed the university's first community service program. Under her leadership as vice president of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center, volunteerism greatly increased. 

In 2010, she launched the “Let’s Move!” campaign  to bring together community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, moms and dads in a nationwide effort to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity. The goal is to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. 

Last year, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society to raise awareness of military families' unique needs and to give service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned. Joining Forces has been working hand in hand with American businesses that are committed to answering the President's challenge to hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans and military spouses by 2013. 

The First Lady and President Obama have two daughters, Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10. 

If tuition hikes and the worry of being able to afford a college education top your list of concerns, then attend the upcoming forum with Dr. Martha Kanter, U.S. Undersecretary of Education, on Monday, April 9.

The public forum on “Ensuring College Affordability, Quality and Completion” will begin at 1 p.m. for academic administrators and community leaders and at 3 p.m. for parents, students and the community. Both sessions will convene at the Alumni-Foundation Event Center, 200 N. Benbow Road. Kanter will be joined by White House HBCU Executive Director John S. Wilson.

Students, educators, administrators and community members are encouraged to attend the free event. The forum will be an opportunity to share views about the impact of increased tuition rates and financial aid availability has had on students, parents and university administrators.

Kanter also will focus on the significant role of college in society, the return on investing in post-secondary education and the shared responsibility of students, post-secondary institutions, the states, and the federal government in expanding college opportunity.

Her visit will highlight The Obama Administration’s new “Blueprint for Making College More Affordable,” which addresses the nation’s goals towards helping students complete their education and value it affords society.

At the U.S. Department of Education, Kanter oversees policies, programs and activities related to postsecondary education, adult and career-technical education, federal student aid and five White House Initiatives: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. She and her team are focused on improving college access, affordability, quality, and completion to implement the president’s American Graduation Initiative.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will host its sixth annual Rehabilitation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities with Behavioral Addictions (REMBA) Conference, April 19–20, at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro. The conference theme is “Breaking the Bondage: Combating the Strongholds of Addictions in Racial and Ethnic Minorities.”

Breakout sessions will focus on addictions in minority communities, including but not limited to alcohol and drug abuse, sexual addictions, criminal offenses and co-occurring disorders. The luncheon keynote speaker will be actor /director/producer Charles S. Dutton, who will discuss his troubled past and how he transitioned from “Jail to Yale.”

A graduate of The Yale School of Drama, Dutton has a career spanning theater, television and film. He starred in and executive produced the Fox comedy/drama “Roc,” produced by HBO, for which he received several NAACP Image Award nominations. He has numerous television credits, and his episodic appearances include “House,” “The Sopranos” and the HBO series “Oz,” among others.

Dutton won Emmys for his guest starring roles in “Without a Trace” and “The Practice.” He is a veteran of numerous feature films such as “Q & A,” “Aliens 3,” “Menace II Society,” “Rudy,” “A Low Down Dirty Shame,” “Cry, Beloved Country,” “Nick of Time,” “A Time to Kill,” “Get on the Bus,” “Cookie’s Fortune” (for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination), “Gothika,” “Secret Window,” “Fame” and “Legion.”  He made his directorial debut in 1997 with the HBO movie “First Time Felon,” and has also directed the award winning HBO miniseries “The Corner,” for which he received a 2001 Best Director Emmy.

This year’s conference is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Capacity Building Grant and co-sponsored by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Southeast Addiction Technology Transfer Center (SATTC).

The REMBA Conference welcomes rehabilitation counselors, community/agency counselor, school counselors, counselor educators and supervisors, administrators, medical professionals, students, and anyone who is interested in learning more about addictions in underrepresented communities. Continuing education units (CEU) and certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) credits will be offered.

The registration fee is $65 for professionals and $40 for students. The deadline to register was March 28, or until filled to capacity. For more information on how to register, contact Calena Creft by email at rembaconference2012@gmail.com or by phone, 336-285-4389.