Three-time Olympic gold medalist and UCLA alumnus Jackie Joyner-Kersee will speak at the College of Letters and Science commencement ceremonies June 12.
Joyner-Kersee, who graduated UCLA in 1986 with a bachelor’s of arts in history, will give a keynote speech at all three of the UCLA College’s commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
With six total Olympic medals, Joyner-Kersee, who competed in four Olympic Games, is the second most decorated woman in United States track and field history. She won back-to-back gold medals in the heptathlon – a two-day, seven-discipline event designed to test athletes’ versatility – at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games, also securing a gold medal in the long jump in Seoul, Korea, in 1988.
At UCLA, Joyner-Kersee was a dual-sport athlete, competing in both track and field and basketball. She secured multiple national championships in the heptathlon for the Bruins. Joyner-Kersee attended UCLA on a basketball scholarship and was a four-year starter, becoming one of UCLA’s career leaders in games played and points scored with more than 1,100 total.
“Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s legacy is defined not only by her unparalleled achievements in athletics but by her unwavering commitment to creating opportunity for others,” said Miguel García-Garibay, senior dean of the UCLA College and dean of physical sciences in a Tuesday announcement. “Her journey from a UCLA student–athlete to global leader and advocate reflects the values of excellence, resilience and service that define UCLA.”
Joyner-Kersee was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2022.
“It is truly an honor to return to my alma mater, UCLA, and speak to such an extraordinary group of graduates,” Joyner-Kersee said in the Tuesday press release. “UCLA helped shape not only my athletic journey but also the woman I have become.”
Joyner-Kersee also created two foundations including the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, which aims to support children and families near her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois. She also co-founded the nonprofit Athletes for Hope organization dedicated to connecting professional athletes with charitable causes, alongside fellow athletes including Mia Hamm and Muhammad Ali.
“To stand before the students and share a message of perseverance, purpose and belief reminds me that greatness begins with faith in yourself,” Joyner-Kersee said in the press release. “Always believe that your dreams are possible and then go out and make them a reality.”
