Special Events

Misty Copeland is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, the first Black woman to be promoted to the position in the company's 75-year history in 2015. She has performed some of the most iconic classical ballet roles, including Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake;” Juliet in “Romeo & Juliet;” “Giselle;” “Manon;” “Coppelia;” Kitri in “Don Quixote;” and “Firebird,” to name a few.

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America's most prominent public intellectuals. A contributor to TIME, Meacham is a highly sought-after commentator, regularly appearing on MSNBC, CNN and other news outlets. A skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs, Meacham has the unique ability to bring history to life and offer historical context to current events and issues impacting our daily lives—whether we realize it or not—to audiences of all backgrounds and levels of understanding.

Damar Hamlin (born March 24, 1998, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania) is an American football safety for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Pittsburgh and was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Hamlin spent most of his rookie season as a backup before becoming a starter in 2022 following a season-ending injury to Micah Hyde.

Nadia Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, “The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State,” is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq and Murad’s imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).