Jennifer Finney Boylan the keynote speaker at College of the Atlantic's 49th commencement ceremony.COA is pleased to welcome Jennifer Finney Boylan as the 2022 commencement speaker.
Boylan is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. She serves on the board of trustees of PEN America and on the board of directors of GLAAD, where she was co-chair for four year. Boylan has been a member of the board of trustees of the Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and also provided counsel for the TV series Transparent and I Am Cait.
She is the author of 16 books, her most recent being the memoir Good Boy: My Life in 7 Dogs. Her next book project is a novel co-authored with Jodi Picoult, slated for publication in autumn of 2022 by Ballantine/Random House.
Her 2003 memoir, She’s Not There: a Life in Two Genders (Broadway/Doubleday/Random House) was the first bestselling work by a transgender American. A novelist, memoirist, and short story writer, she is also a nationally known advocate for human rights. Jenny has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on four occasions; Live with Larry King twice; the Today Show, the Barbara Walters Special, NPR’s Marketplace and Talk of the Nation; she has also been the subject of documentaries on CBS News’ 48 Hours and The History Channel.
She lives in New York City and Belgrade Lakes, Maine, with her wife, Deedie. They have a son, Sean, and a daughter, Zai.
Family and friends of the College of the Atlantic Class of 2022 are invited to join commencement in person on Saturday, June 4. The event will take place under a big tent on the college’s North Lawn on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. The event will be streamed online for those who cannot make it to campus.
Attendees of 2022 COA commencement activities will be expected to follow all relevant campus COVID-19 protocols. COA is a fully vaccinated campus and visitors are expected to be as well.