NEW ORLEANS — Michelle Miller, the CBS News anchor who lived and worked in New Orleans for nearly ten years, was named Loyola's Commencement speaker for 2024 on Monday.
In announcing Miller as the speaker, Loyola President Xavier Cole celebrated the 'CBS Saturday Morning' co-host's record.
"Throughout her career she has been at the forefront of coverage on critical social issues and has earned several prestigious awards," President Cole said Monday.
The commencement has been scheduled for Sat., May 11 at 10 a.m., where Miller will address both undergraduate and graduate students.
Before joining CBS News as a correspondent in 2004, Miller worked for WWL for nearly a decade, beginning in 1994.
"I came to New Orleans, not by my choice, it was an opportunity -- and almost an opportunity that I lost," Miller told Great Day Louisiana in 2023.
While in New Orleans, Miller was a professor at Dillard University, teaching journalism and mass communication.
And hundreds of guests were outside St. Louis Cathedral for Miller's wedding to former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial in 1999.
Miller is also no stranger to New Orleans college commencements, in 2022 she spoke to the graduating class at UNO.
In 2023, Miller penned a memoir called "Belonging," which explored her relationship with her estranged mother, her mixed-race identity and her entry into journalism.
"I stepped into my calling in fits and starts, navigating spaces where people weren't quite sure what to make of me." Miller said in her book. "Such encounters never failed to short-circuit me back to a childhood in which I was bused to four different schools in five years, a Black girl integrating in White environments, who ached with wondering where she might belong."
Other speakers at Loyola's 2024 commencement include Louisiana District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, who will speak at the law school. And civil rights activist Ronnie Moore will recieve an honorary degree from the college. Miller and Lemelle have also been selected to recieve an honor degree for 2024.
Loyola's ceremony will be streamed live on Youtube, President Cole said Monday.
