Draymond Green, Wendy's CEO will speak at MSU graduation

Lansing State Journal

LANSING — Michigan State University seniors will graduate virtually this year in ceremonies featuring former Spartan turned NBA star Draymond Green and the Wendy's CEO Todd Penegor.

MSU picked Draymond Green, a forward on the MSU men's basketball team from 2008 to 2012, be the keynote speaker during the baccalaureate degree ceremony on Dec. 19 at 10 a.m., according to a press release issued on Thursday. Green graduated from MSU in 2012 with a degree in communications.

Former Spartan and Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green addresses the crowd during his jersey retirement ceremony during halftime on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Green plays for the Golden State Warriors and, over eight seasons, has helped the team win three NBA Championships while earning the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2017 and being named to the All-Defensive First Team three times.

Penegor graduated from MSU's Eli Broad College of Business before becoming the CEO of The Wendy's Co. Penegor will provide the keynote speech for the master's degree ceremony on Dec. 18 at 10 a.m.

MSU named Marta Tienda the keynote speaker for the doctoral degree ceremony on Dec. 18 at 2 p.m.

Tienda is a professor of sociology and public affairs and the Maurice P. During Professor in Demographic Studies at Princeton University. The daughter of Mexican migrant workers, she has focused her career on academic activism for disadvantaged populations.

She graduated from MSU in 1972 with a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish. She also was a member of the MSU Honors College.

Marta Tienda, professor of sociology and public affairs and the Maurice P. During Professor in Demographic Studies at Princeton University

More than 2,600 MSU graduates will be recognized during the three ceremonies. Each ceremony will be conducted virtually due to COVID -19 concerns and can be viewed online at the MSU commencement website at commencement.msu.edu.

Names of the graduates will scroll on the screen at the end of each ceremony.

“I am incredibly proud of these students for not only completing their degrees but doing so under such difficult circumstances,” said MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr. in a statement released by the university. “It is fitting to have three highly accomplished alumni serving as our keynote speakers. They remind us of the impact we can have on the world as Spartans.”