American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine is proud to announce that the keynote speaker for the Class of 2010 Commencement will be New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.

Congresswoman Clarke, a Brooklyn native and a Caribbean-American, was elected to represent the 11th Congressional District of New York in 2006. Her mother, Una Clarke, was a member of the New York City Council, and Yvette succeeded her after she held the seat for more than a decade. In 2006, Ms. Clark ran for Congress and received 89% of the vote. She follows the late Shirley Chisholm, the first Caribbean-American woman elected to Congress.

As Congresswoman, she has written legislation to improve the process of removing names from the No-Fly List; the legislation passed in February 2009.

As Chairwoman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science & Technology, she leads the Congressional investigation into biodefenses and pandemic preparedness. She understands the importance of these medical school graduates as she knows first-hand how quickly a dangerous contagion can spread across the United States. We are honored to have her speak at our Commencement and we commend her.

The Commencement Ceremony will be held at the Grand Hyatt New York at 12 pm on Friday, June 4th. These graduates represent the future of medicine; as students of AUA, we know they will be compassionate, knowledgeable and skillful physicians.

Among the other dignitaries attending are Dr. Seymour Schwartz, Provost; Dr. Jagbir Nagra, Vice President Academic Affairs and Executive Dean; Dr. Peter Bell, Vice President of Academic Development and Executive Dean of Clinical Sciences; and Neal Simon, President of AUA.