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Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles was the keynote speaker during Johnson C. Smith University's graduation over the weekend. While delivering a commencement address to the graduating class is a special honor it is own right, Lyles was also "proud and humbled" to receive an honorary doctorate from the university.
For the first time in two years, JCSU held a full, in-person commencement ceremony for its graduates on Sunday (May 15), complete with an audience filled with their loved ones to see the class of 2022 walk across the stage to get their diplomas, WCNC reports. Mayor Lyles was invited to the private Charlotte HBCU's ceremony as the keynote speaker, delivering a commencement address and receiving a special recognition of her own: an honorary doctorate.
Following the ceremony, Lyles took to Twitter to share photos from the graduation and to give a shoutout to all the graduates while also expressing her gratitude for the honor bestowed upon her by the university.
"Congratulations to all of the graduates today at [JCSU]," she wrote. "I hope my keynote speech helped add to your big day. I guess it was a memorable day for me too, as JCSU awarded me an Honorary Doctorate. So proud & humbled to be a part of the JCSU family."
Congrats to the class of 2022!