The ceremony is set for Sunday, May 20, at 10 a.m. in the campus Quadrangle.
Actress Jane Lynch attends the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in Los Angeles.NORTHAMPTON - Jane Lynch, the prolific television and feature film actress known most recently for her role as megalomaniac cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on the Fox musical comedy "Glee", will speak at Smith College's 2012 commencement.
The ceremony -- Smith's 134th -- is set for Sunday, May 20, at 10 a.m. in the campus Quadrangle.
A press release announcing Lynch's appearance at the commencement cited her work on "Glee" as a role that brings "an awareness of pervasive stereotypes" to popular culture. "The mirror that she has turned on audiences reflects what remains to be accomplished – disabusing prejudice about disability, sexuality – in a culture that otherwise aspires to champion diversity," the release reads.
Lynch has visited the Pioneer Valley before, most notably in 2010 when she held her wedding to psychologist Lara Embry at the Blue Heron restaurant in Sunderland.
At the Smith commencement, four women will also receive honorary degrees: Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat; financier Muriel Siebert; atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon, who is credited with discovering a hole in the ozone layer; and Smith alumna and architect Brinda Somaya.