Comic Sheryl Underwood keynotes JCSU commencement

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Comic and broadcast personality Sheryl Underwood is the keynote speaker at Johnson C. Smith University's May 18 commencement.

There’s bound to be levity at Johnson C. Smith University’s commencement.

Sheryl Underwood, a comedian and co-host of “The Talk” on CBS will be the keynote speaker at JCSU’s May 18 graduation ceremony at Bojangles Coliseum. The program starts at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.
Underwood, an education advocate, especially for historically Black colleges and universities, will also be awarded an honorary degree.

A graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago, Underwood has honorary degrees from South Carolina State University and Benedict College and in 2008 was elected international grand basileus, or president, of  Zeta Phi Beta's sorority.

“Ms. Sheryl Underwood’s life and career reflect the brilliance, strength and purpose we cultivate in our students,” JCSU President Valerie Kinloch said in a statement. “Her message will undoubtedly inspire our graduates as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”  

After graduating college, Underwood joined the Air Force Reserves, where she served two years. Afterward, she embarked on a career in comedy as the first woman finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989 and won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005.

Underwood hosted BET's “Comic View” and was executive producer and host of the limited run comedy/variety series “Holla” She parlayed that success into acting with comedic movie roles, including Bad Mouth Bessie in the 1998 film “I Got the Hook Up” and Catfish Rita in 2005’s “Beauty Shop.”

Underwood was a contributor on nationally syndicated radio programs hosted by Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey before going on to host her own program,  “Sheryl Underwood and Company” for Radio One-owned Syndication One News/Talk and XM Satellite Radio's Channel 169 (The Power).Underwood hosts “The Sheryl Underwood Show” on SiriusXM’s The Foxxhole channel. 

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