Oprah coming to Charlotte to give commencement address

Media icon Oprah Winfrey is making her way to the Queen City next month to be the keynote speaker at Johnson C. Smith University's spring commencement ceremony.

The ceremony will be held in the Irwin Belk Complex on May 15 at 8 a.m.

The graduating class includes two Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls alumni. Noluthando “Thando” Dlomo and Nompumelelo “Mpumi” Nobiva are graduates of the South African school Winfrey founded in 2007. The school is part of her continuous quest to provide education to children around the world.

Some in the JCSU community might recognize Thando for her being crowned Miss JCSU 2016. As part of her duties she represented the school with honor at the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. Mpumi has also made a name for herself as an inspirational speaker and worked with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee last semester.

A third academy alum, Andronica Klaas, will graduate next year.

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This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Oprah coming to Charlotte to give commencement address."