Newark, New Jersey: A city university will have a new speaker at its 2016 graduation later this week.
Rutgers University - Newark has announced that Soledad O'Brien, a journalist and news anchor, will speak on Wednesday, May 18th at the graduation at the Prudential Center in Downtown Newark.
Actor Wendell Pierce was originally slated to be the speaker at the graduation, but he was arrested in Atlanta on Saturday and is facing simple battery charges, according to CNN.
In a statement, the university stated that "this morning Rutgers University – Newark was informed by actor and humanitarian Wendell Pierce that in order to assure that commencement 2016 will be a celebration of the accomplishments of our students free of distractions, he is declining to join us and consequently must decline the conferral of an honorary degree."
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