Dustin Lance Black to Deliver 89th Commencement Address at Pasadena City College

President Rocha said he spoke with Black personally over the phone this morning to extend the invitation and to apologize sincerely for the way the college has handled this matter to date.

“It’s time to move forward and put the focus where it should be—on the students,” Black reportedly said. “I look forward to the honor of returning to PCC to support the 2014 graduates of Pasadena City College.”

Black, who graduated from Pasadena City College in 1994, is an acclaimed screenwriter, director, producer, and LGBTQ activist. In 2009, Black won an Academy Award® for his original screenplay, MILK, a film that depicted the life of the late civil rights activist Harvey Milk.

A prolific and creative force, Black has written and co-produced HBO’s Emmy® and Golden Globe®nominated polygamist drama Big Love. Other award winning projects include the screenplay for Pedro, the life and legacy of openly gay, HIV positive Real World cast member, Pedro Zamora; J. Edgar, the Clint Eastwood directed pictorial of the life of FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover; and the theatrical play 8, a reenactment of the federal trial that led to the overturn of California’s Proposition 8.

“All of us at PCC are so proud of Mr. Black and are delighted he is returning to his alma mater,” said President Rocha. “Mr. Black’s career represents a rare blend of public leadership, and creativity. Additionally, He has generously committed his attention and resources to fighting for LGBTQ equality, the arts, and—not least of all—education.”

A leading voice in the LGBTQ community, Black is a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and has been named one of the 50 most powerful LGBTQ people in America today.

Currently, Black is writing the The Barefoot Bandit, the true story of Colton Harris-Moore, adapting Under The Banner of Heaven, a story about fundamentalist Mormonism, and developing a miniseries for ABC that focuses on the LGBTQ Rights Movement in America.

PCC is one of the largest community colleges in the country, serving over 30,000 students from 90 different countries. Widely recognized as a transfer leader, PCC ranks as one of the top community colleges in the state that transfers students to nationally ranked four-year universities and colleges.

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