Dershowitz to Deliver Commencement Address at Rice University

CONTACT: Michael Cinelli
PHONE:
(713) 831-4794
EMAIL: mincelli@rice.edu

DERSHOWITZ TO DELIVER COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT RICE
Harvard Law Professor Will Urge Graduates to Preserve Their
Roots

Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz will
address Rice University’s 84th graduating class during Commencement ceremonies,
which start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Academic Quadrangle.

Dershowitz will speak about how to preserve one’s roots while becoming a part
of mainstream America.

“Every one of us comes from a mixed background — that’s the greatness of
America. I’m talking about the great hyphen [as in African-American or
Irish-American] that makes us all Americans but encourages us to preserve our
origins and be proud of our parents and our grandparents and to be proud of our
differences, while at the same time celebrating what makes us one great
country,” Dershowitz said. “Striking the appropriate balance is one of the most
difficult tasks I think that young people face today.”

Since joining the Harvard faculty at age 25, Dershowitz has devoted himself
to defending individual rights and civil liberties, has risen to prominence as a
legal educator, and has written numerous books, about both legal issues and the
Jewish-American experience. His latest book, “The Vanishing American Jew: In
Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century,” was published in March.

“Few people realize that Alan Dershowitz was the youngest person ever to be
awarded tenure at Harvard,” said Rice President Malcolm Gillis. “Since then he
has had a multifaceted and quite public career. In his address, he will share
with us his thoughts on ways to honor and preserve one’s heritage