Class Day Speakers To Address Graduates

Abner Mikva and Judge Amalya L. Kearse will address law school graduates today from the steps of Langdell Hall as part of the Class Day festivities.

Mikva, the current White House counsel, has also served five terms in the U.S. Congress, representing Illinois. He was also a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Mikva received his J.D. form the University of Chicago in 1951.

Kearse is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She was appointed to the bench by President Carter in 1979.

Kearse has also been a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York. She has been a member of the Urban League and the National Women's Pairs Bridge Champion.

Kearse got her J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1962.

"[Kearse] is mentioned whenever Supreme Court vacancies come up," said Matthew T. Henshon, a Law School Class Marshal who helped choose the speakers.

"We're really happy to have [Mikva and Kearse]," Henshon said. "Getting them both was a real coup."

The committee in charge of finding Class Day speakers has been working throughout the year.

"Basically, we started a year ago, getting as wide a range of names as we could. We put up a poster, asking for names," Henshon said.

The committee then prioritized the names by desirability and likelihood of accepting the invitation and then began to contact the top nine or 10 people, Henshon said.

Other Class Day speakers at the Law School have included Attorney General Janet Reno, who received her LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1963 and Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun '29, who received his LL.B. from Harvard Law school in 1932.

Mitva and Kearse speeches will take place at 2:30 p.m. today at Langdell Hall, 1545 Massachusetts Avenue.

Other Class Day speakers:

. The Dental School has invited John P. Howe III, president of the Health Science Center at the University of Texas at San Antonio, John C. Greene, professor of dental public health and hygene at the University of California, and Myron Allukian, associate clinical professor of oral helath policy and epidemiology to speak on "Dental Education at the Crossroads."

The panel will be held at the amphitheater at Harvard Medical School Building D from 10 a.m. until noon.

. The class day address at the Graduate School of Education will be delivered by Joseph A. Maxwell, associate professor of education, and Roland Smith, the alumni council chair, at 5 p.m.

. The Kennedy School of Government will host Cornel R. West '74, professor of philosophy of religion in the Divintiy School and professor of Afro-American studies, in the ARCO Forum at 4 p.m.

. The Divinity School will have Professor of the History of Religions, Lawrence E. Sullivan speaking tomorrow.