Campus News

On Saturday, May 10, Rockford University will hold its 171st Commencement Ceremony at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. and will be livestreamed simultaneously on the Rockford University YouTube channel. 

Speaking at the ceremony is Judge Joyce Williams Warren. Judge Warren is a retired judge for the Sixth Judicial District in Arkansas. She attended both Rockford College and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), where she received a BA in sociology and anthropology in 1971. When she was only 11 years old, Judge Warren and nine other Black students were the first to integrate West Side Junior High School in Little Rock, AK. Judge Warren went on to be the first Black female graduate of the William H. Bowen School of Law and Arkansas’ first Black female judge. She began her career as a clerk at the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1977. She went on to serve in the Arkansas government in a variety of positions, and for a time was in private practice. In 1990 she was elected as a judge to the Sixth Circuit of Arkansas, where she served until 2020. In 2023 Warren was inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.

“I am looking forward, eagerly, to giving the keynote speech for Rockford University’s 171st Commencement Ceremony,” said Judge Warren. “It is a great honor to be a part of—and a witness to—this historical event. Rockford University marked the beginning of my post-secondary education and helped prepare me for the personal and professional accomplishments I have been blessed to achieve.”

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For more information and to RSVP, please contact the Rockford University Marketing and Communications department, communications@rockford.edu.