Whoopi Goldberg at Wilson Convocation, December 1987.

Whoopi Goldberg during her Convocation speech at Wilson College.

Whoopi Goldberg with an unidentified woman on the night of her Convocation Speech at Wilson College.

Whoopi Goldberg smiling during Convocation.

Visited Wilson in December 1987 to give the Fall Convocation Speech

Known for her comedy and acting prowess, Whoopi Goldberg remains one of the most well-known women in Hollywood today. One of only 16 people to have won an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, Academy Award, and Tony Award, she has used her fame and talent to fight for human rights. 

Born Caryn Johnson in 1955, Goldberg was raised in a Manhattan housing project. She began performing in plays at the age of eight in a children’s theater group, and was a member of the chorus in several Broadway shows when she was a young adult. 

She developed her own one-woman show in 1984, which began her career as a comedienne. Shortly after this, she was cast in The Color Purple, for which she won an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award. She has since starred in an array of films and Broadway shows, one of which secured her a Tony Award.

In more recent years, Goldberg has gained notoriety as a talk show host on The View, and won the Daytime Emmy Award for her work there in 2009. She has won countless other honors over the years, both for her talent and for her passionate activism for AIDS research, human rights, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other causes.

In addition to these awards, she has been conferred several honorary degrees, one of which came from Wilson in 1987. Although her arrival at the college started off with a rocky start (due to her three-hour late arrival), the excitement from the student body was palpable. She was met with cheers and clapping from the audience, and received it with humble grace.

 “So you still feel like that after I’m an hour late? Or even two?” she quipped. Her speech, though brief, told of her childhood in the housing project, and her determination to make something of herself. She told students that they had a responsibility to one another to help where they can, and to make a difference. Despite how easy it is to get caught up in the chaos of one's life, she urged her audience to exist outside of their own worlds.

Whoopi Goldberg still inspires change today as she continues to fight for humanitarian causes.

Sources: 

The Morning Herald Friday, December 4, 1987

Billboard Volume 71, No. 5  December 11, 1987

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Whoopi-Goldberg