Bakari Lee
PARAMUS, N.J. – Bakari G. Lee, the chair-elect of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), an organization representing more than 6,500 trustees serving the nation’s community colleges, will deliver the keynote address at Bergen Community College’s 47th annual commencement May 19.
“Bakari Lee represents one of the strongest advocates for community colleges in the United States,” Bergen President B. Kaye Walter, Ph.D., said. “He will undoubtedly inspire our graduates, their families and friends during his address.”
Lee, a partner at the law firm of McManimon, Scotland & Baumann in Roseland, has served on the ACCT board of directors since 2011. As chair-elect, he will assume the top leadership position on the nonprofit educational organization’s executive panel later this year. Locally, Lee has served the Hudson County Community College board of trustees since 2006 and currently holds the position of vice chair. His advocacy for community colleges led to a three-year tenure as chair of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, where he continues to serve on its executive committee.
“I’m truly honored to give the keynote address at Bergen Community College,” Lee said. “I have deep roots in Bergen County, my mother being from Hackensack specifically, so I spent much of my childhood there. The majority of her family still lives in town, so I am often still there as well. Also, our cousin Dallas Gray has worked at Bergen for many years, so this is a personal honor. We are truly in the midst of a transformative stage for community colleges, and I am glad to be involved. I look forward to speaking at Bergen’s 47th commencement.”
Lee earned a B.S. from Florida A&M University and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law – Newark.
Former Bergen Community College Board of Trustees vice chair and current Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility President and CEO Cid D. Wilson headlined last year’s ceremony. Dr. John W. Davis of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund delivered the College’s first commencement keynote in 1970.
College officials are currently finalizing plans for the event’s location. For the first time, the institution held commencement at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus last year after previously utilizing the now-shuttered Izod Center for seven years.
According to federal data, Bergen has led the state in associate degree graduates for the past two years with more than 4,740 students earning diplomas.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 16,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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