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Scott Brown to speak at Nichols College commencement

E-mail|Link|Comments () April 2, 2010 11:17 AM

Harry Hamburg/AP

Senator Brown talking to reporters on Capitol Hill earlier this month.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Small college. Big-name speaker.

Republican US Senator Scott Brown, who caught the national spotlight with his upset victory in the special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Edward M. Kennedy, will speak at the commencement of Nichols College in the central Massachusetts community of Dudley, the college announced today.

Graduation speakers

"Nichols seniors are delighted to have Senator Brown as their honored guest" on May 8, Debra M. Townsley, the college president, said in a statement.

The private college, which has about 1,300 undergraduates, was founded in 1815. It offers a career-focused business education.

Other well-known Massachusetts commencement speakers this year include MSNBC-TV host Rachel Maddow, who recently engaged in a public tiff with Brown over rumors she might run for his seat. She will speak at Smith College in Northampton.

Harvard has also announced that former Supreme Court Justice David Souter will speak at its commencement, while journalist Christiane Amanpour will speak at Class Day.

Brown, a little-known state senator, shocked the political world when he beat Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in the Jan. 19 special election.