On June 4, CNN talk show host Larry King will deliver Harvard Law School’s 2003 Class Day address. The Class Day exercises will begin at 2:30 p.m. on the steps of Langdell Hall. In addition to King’s remarks, the 2003 Sacks-Freund teaching award and the 2003 staff appreciation award will be presented. For those unable to attend, the event will be webcast live.
“If I weren’t a broadcaster and if I had ever gone to college, my desired profession would have been the law, specifically criminal law,” said King. “This is a great thrill for me to address the 2003 graduates of Harvard Law School. It’s like they say, ‘only in America.’ My mother would be so proud.”
Over the course of his 45-year broadcast career, King has interviewed guests such as Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Eleanor Roosevelt. He has hosted “Larry King Live,” CNN’s highest-rated program, for the past 18 years.
“Each evening, Larry King asks the hard hitting and important questions that our nation needs to have answered, and he does so not only with eloquence, but also with a powerful persuasion that any lawyer would be lucky to possess,” said Joi Cheney, a 2003 class marshal. “We are very excited to have him as our Class Day speaker.”
In addition to his broadcast credits, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars and provided life-saving cardiac procedures for more than 60 needy children and adults. King also recently established a $1 million journalism scholarship at George Washington University’s School of Media and Affairs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Harvard Law School Class Day is held annually on the day before the Harvard University’s Commencement exercises, which include the Commencement address to be given this year by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. Recent Harvard Law School Class Day speakers have included White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, former presidential advisor David Gergen, and legal analyst Greta Van Susteren.