Voting Rights Leader Jocelyn Benson Will Deliver Wellesley College Commencement Address
Jocelyn Benson—a fierce advocate for voting rights who currently serves as Michigan’s Secretary of State—will deliver the commencement address at Wellesley College’s graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 20.
Benson became a national exemplar for leading fair and accessible elections in 2020, when Michigan’s ballots were among those called into question after President Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump in one of the most contentious, partisan and divisive elections in our time. As Michigan’s top election official, Benson faced criticism and harassment by voters who incorrectly believed that the election had been mismanaged. A lifelong advocate for making elections safe and secure, Benson stood by her state’s vote count, becoming one of the most vocal and recognizable election officials in the nation.
“I will stand up every day in my job for all voters,” Benson said in a statement at the time, “even the votes of the protesters who banded together outside my home.”
In announcing Wellesley’s commencement speaker, Wellesley College President Paula A. Johnson said, “Jocelyn Benson knows first-hand how vital it is to stand up for our democracy and to serve as a bulwark against the forces that would damage it. At a time when we need champions like her more than ever, Wellesley is honored to welcome this distinguished alumna back to campus to serve as our 2023 commencement speaker.”
Benson oversaw Michigan’s 2020 and 2022 general elections, both of which drew record-breaking turnout. She also implemented new voting rights for all eligible Michiganders prior to the 2020 election, including the right to vote absentee, and oversaw more than 250 audits after the election, all of which affirmed its integrity and accuracy.
In 2015, Benson became one of the youngest women in history to be inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. She received the 2022 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and the Presidential Citizens Medal for her work in protecting democracy. On January 6, 2023, Benson was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden, for her “undaunted and unflinching” work in performing “exemplary public service to advance free and fair elections.”
Benson’s strong commitment to voting rights activism was born while she was a student at Wellesley. A 1999 graduate of the college with a major in political science, Benson was the first Wellesley student ever elected to Wellesley Town Meeting. As a Wellesley senior, she was named one of Glamour magazine’s Top Ten College Women, earning special recognition for encouraging political activism among minority groups. “Each effort has stemmed from my belief that the minorities of America are the majority,” Benson wrote in her 1998 application for the award, “be us old, young, Black, Hispanic, female, or disabled. Our government must not only be receptive to that—it must reflect that. If I can use my life to bring us one step closer to that reality, then it has been a success.”
Benson interned and worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama during her student years, focusing especially on white supremacy and neo-Nazism. She continued her research into hate groups while earning her master’s degree in sociology as a Marshall Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, then received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as a general editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.
At age 36, Benson was named dean of Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, becoming the youngest woman in U.S. history to lead a top-100 accredited law school. She continues to serve as vice chair of the advisory board for the Levin Center at Wayne Law, which she founded with former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). Previously, Benson was an associate professor and associate director of Wayne Law’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights.
Benson is the author of “State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process,” the first major book on the secretary of state’s role in enforcing election and campaign finance laws. She is also a co-founder and former president of Military Spouses of Michigan, a network dedicated to providing support and services to military spouses and their children.
About Wellesley’s Commencement Ceremony
Wellesley’s 2023 commencement ceremony will be held in person on Severance Green on Saturday, May 20, at 10:30 a.m. EDT, and it will be livestreamed on the WellesleyLive website.
