n e w s

For Immediate Release
May 9, 2005

Contacts:
Lee Dancy, ASC news services, 404-580-9770 ldancy@agnesscott.edu
Philippe Reines, Sen. Clinton, 202-224-2873 philippe_reines@clinton.senate.gov
Chris Schroder, Schroder PR, 404-872-7289, chris@schroderpr.com
Suzanne Brownlow, Schroder PR, 404-229-7887, suzanne@schroderpr.com

                     Agnes Scott College to Award Its First Honorary Degrees

ATLANTA (May 9, 2005) – Agnes Scott College will award the first honorary degrees in its history at the 116th commencement on May 14. A doctor of laws will be conferred upon keynote speaker Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the doctor of humane letters, honoris causa, will be awarded to Pulitzer-prize and Tony-award winner Marsha Norman.

Clinton is a 1969 graduate of Wellesley College, another prominent women's institution.   Playwright Marsha Norman, an Agnes Scott alumna from the class of 1969, has spoken at previous commencement ceremonies.

Norman, a native of Kentucky, has been a moving force in American drama for many years. She won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her play 'night, Mother, which also won four Tony nominations, the Dramatists Guild's prestigious Hull-Warriner Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Most recently in Atlanta, Norman worked with novelist Alice Walker to deliver her book “The Color Purple” to the stage as a musical, which debuted at the Alliance Theatre in October 2004. In 1987, Norman published her first novel, The Fortune Teller, and followed it with Four Plays (1988) and The Secret Garden (1991), a Broadway musical. The New York Times described her one-act play, Trudy Blue, as a "beautiful" work and a "vivid and stirring reminder of just what a fine observer of the interior life she is."

In 2000, Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, became the only First Lady to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Clinton is the author of several best-selling books, including “Living History,” a 562-page memoir published in 2003 that details her eight years in the White House. She also has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

The May 14 commencement ceremony is open only to the Agnes Scott community and families and friends of the graduates. Members of the media interested in covering the event should contact Lee Dancy ASC news services director, 404-471-5451, or Chris Schroder with Schroder Public Relations at 404-872-7289, or chris@schroderpr.com.

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