As a recent guest of CNN at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a Black on Campus fellow and a Dean's Intern for The Washington Post, Lauren Lumpkin, a graduating senior, will have a lot to look back on when she delivers the undergraduate student address on May 12, 2018 at the American University School of Communication (AU SOC) commencement ceremony.

Lumpkin, who, despite her impressive list of journalistic credentials, will be receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and Strategic Communication with a double minor in marketing and Chinese, started her freshman year as a writer for HerCampus where she was able to practice her writing skills and find out more about the type of topics that she enjoyed covering.

She went on to become the Editor-in-Chief of The Blackprint, an AU-affiliated publication aimed towards serving people of color (POC) on campus. The publication has grown quite significantly since she took over as Editor-in-Chief, after coverage of important stories such as the ' Black Exodus Protest.' After commencement, she will be writing for the Baltimore Sun.

During her four years at SOC, Lumpkin has been not just a high achieving student, but also an engaged and valued member of the AU community. She has been an advocate for fellow POC through her journalism and as a student representative on the American University President's Council on Diversity and Inclusion. She has also worked as the director of diversity and inclusion on AU student government to help build an inclusive campus culture after the racial incidents that occurred on campus in the 2016-17 school year.

Updated 5/16: Watch video of Lauren Lumpkin's speech.