Liz Murray – Keynote Speaker for spring 2020 Chancellor’s list ceremony.
Liz Murray lost her mother, dropped out of school and became homeless at the age of 15. Now, she is a successful Harvard graduate who inspired Lifetime Television’s original movie, “Homeless to Harvard.” Murray will be the keynote speaker for Western Carolina University’s ceremony honoring students who made the Chancellor’s List in fall 2019.
The ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday February 18 at the John W. Bardo Fine Arts Center. The Chancellor’s List is an honor for students who maintained a GPA of 3.8 or higher during the semester. The director of student transitions at Western Carolina, Glenda Hensley, hopes that students take away Murray’s commitment to helping others.
“I think her speech will be motivating and inspirational for our students and campus community,” Hensley said. “I believe her example of giving back will light a spark for our stellar students at WCU to indeed become agents of change.”
Growing up, Murray’s parents were addicted to drugs. Although they loved Murray and her sister, they never had the money to provide for the children. When both her parents fell ill, an adolescent Murray found herself sleeping on friends’ couches, subway stations, and park benches. Struggling to survive on her own, Murray lived life one day at a time.
This all changed shortly after Murray turned 16 when her mother died. Understanding that she needed to turn her life around, Murray began applying to high schools, many of which turned her away. At age 17, Murray was accepted to Humanities Preparatory School in Manhattan. She finished her high school education in two years and went on to attend Harvard on scholarships. Murray graduated from Harvard in 2009 and is now working towards completing her Masters in the Psychology of Education at Columbia University.
Today, as co-founder and Executive Director of The Arthur Project, Murray is a passionate advocate for underserved youth, working to end generational poverty through relationship-based learning. She is also a mother of two children.
Each semester Western Carolina hosts a different keynote speaker for the Chancellor’s list ceremony. Past speakers included former US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, ABC news correspondent, John Quiñones, and political commentator Michael Steele.
The event is free and open to the public.
