BILL COSBY TO ADDRESS HU CLASS OF 2003

Hampton, VA - Hampton University welcomes actor/comedian Bill Cosby, one of the most influential performers of our time, as the speaker for the 133rd Annual Commencement on Sunday, May 11, 2003.

Commencement will be held at Armstrong Stadium at 10 a.m. The Convocation Center, Student Center and Holland Hall will serve as the rain sites. Reserved press parking will be in the parking lot adjacent to the Student Center and reserved seating in the first row on the right of the stadium.

President William R. Harvey will be presented with an honorary doctorate, commemorating his 25 years at HU. Cosby will also be receiving an honorary degree.

Having sold out nightclubs, concert halls and arenas across the country for four decades, Cosby continues to have an unparalleled career in television, film and as a best-selling author.

"It is always a pleasure to see those fresh faces of the new graduates.

It's also fun to notice the relieved smiles of the parents...," Cosby said in a release.

Cosby is noted for changing the face of television with the 1965 series, "I Spy," winning the actor three Emmy Awards. According to the New York Times, it was a historic moment in casting when a black man was placed along side a white man as his equal, creating international attention.

Other television shows adding to Cosby's success include "The Electric Company," "Sesame Street" and the critically acclaimed Saturday-morning cartoon series "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids." However, it was as the star and chief architect of "The Cosby Show," that Cosby, according to Time Magazine, "dominated the medium as no star had since the days of Lucille Ball and Milton Berle."

His book Fatherhood (1986) became the fastest-selling hardcover book of all time, remaining for more than half of its 54 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List as No. 1. It has sold 2.6 million hardcover copies and 1.2 million paperbacks. He has had 21 albums on the national pop charts (three in the Top 10 and three more in the Top 20) which have earned him eight Gold Records and five Grammy Awards.

Cosby is a strong advocate of education. He calls himself a "late bloomer," because he said he did not realize the value of a formal education until after the first four days of boot camp in the U.S. Navy.

"Four years later in May, when I got out of the Navy, I hit the ground running from Norfolk, Va. and immediately enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia," Cosby said. Cosby obtained a bachelors degree from Temple, with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher, a master's in 1972 and a doctorate in education in 1977, both from the University of Massachusetts.

Cosby said he has never stopped realizing the importance of challenging himself.

"People always say ‘You don't need money, why are you still working?' My answer is that it isn't about money. That's academic. It's about accepting the challenges of one's own ideas, clarifying the unanswered questions and pursuing the excitement of discovery," said Cosby.