With fall commencement just around the corner, Grambling State University is proud to announce a familiar and prominent person as commencement speaker, Birdex Copeland.
“Dr. Copeland is a respected educator, an accomplished businessman and a dedicated civic contributor, and, most of all, he’s one of our own; he’s a Gramblinite,” said GSU President Frank G. Pogue. “We’re grateful that someone of his quality and stature is available to challenge our graduates about what they will face when they leave us, and what we expect from them.”
Pogue said he has asked Copeland to specifically challenge the graduates to be good, strong alumni, telling them what that means, how to contribute to the success of the university and how to use their various platforms to show what Grambling State has to offer.
This year’s graduation is scheduled for Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. in the Frederick C. Hobdy Assembly Center on campus.
A Grambling resident, Copeland is a 1965 graduate of what was then Grambling College.
He worked at the university for more than 30 years, including time spent in the position of dean of the School of Social Work from 1993-2001, when he retired.
Copeland is serving his fifth term as a member of the Grambling City Council, and he has been chairman of the board of directors of the Shreveport Federal Credit Union.