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Provost Carol Folt: Mr. President, for the degree, Doctor of Arts, Ruby Dee.
[Applause]
President Jim Yong Kim: Ruby Dee, you were raised in Harlem, where you bore witness to
racism, poverty, and other forms of injustice on a daily basis. But you were also part of
a vibrant and supportive community, dedicated to spirited intellectual debates and grass-roots
political activism. You attended your first protests as a child, joining picket lines
to rail against discriminatory hiring practices. Those early lessons in civic engagement paved
the way for a lifetime of activism. A devoted union member, you also joined the NAACP, the
Congress for Racial Equality, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. With your friends Martin Luther King, Jr.,
and Malcolm X, you fought for civil rights and a more just society. Along with your husband,
Ossie Davis, you were instrumental in organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom, which helped to secure passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act the following year. In the middle of all this extraordinary activism
you also worked steadily in creative fields. The range of your expression is vast, spanning
all forms of media, including the stage, the cinema, television, radio, audio recordings,
and the written word. As a celebrated actress, you have used your craft not only to entertain
but also to educate, instigate, and inspire, by taking on roles in such politically-charged
works as Boesman and Lena, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Incident.
You have received an astonishing array of honors, including an Emmy, a Grammy, two Screen
Actors Guild awards, the NAACP Image Award, Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal
of Art, and the National Civil Rights Museum's Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as membership
in the Broadway Hall of Fame. Dartmouth is proud to add to this list of accolades by
granting you the honorary degree Doctor of Arts.