BY KAREN BOSSICK
New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims will be the keynote speaker at the Sun Valley Community School’s Class of 2019 commencement ceremony.
The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2, at the Sun Valley Pavilion.
It will feature 39 graduating seniors, along with one exchange student who will receive a Certificate of Completion.
Lythcott-Haims wrote “How to Raise an Adult,” which details how a parent can impinge on a child’s successful transition to adulthood by overparenting.
She wrote it from insights she gained over a decade as Stanford University’s dean of freshman.
Lythcott-Haims received the university’s Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for her efforts and her 2016 TED Talk on helicopter parenting has received more than four million views.
In 2017 she published a second book—“Real American: A Memoir”--which examines racism through her experience as a black and biracial person.
“Ms. Lythcott-Haims is an important voice in our national conversations around parenting trends, the wellbeing and resilience of our children, college admissions and finding the right fit—all of which are prominent conversations without our school community,” said Head of School Ben Pettit. “Further, she is a vital voice in the conversations around opportunity, diversity, equity and inclusion in educational settings.”
Lythcott-Haims said she felt privileged to join the Sun Valley Community School seniors.
“From my brief interaction with them, I know them to be clear, kind and bold, a wildly eclectic bunch, each part thinker, part doer, part dreamer, all eager to chart their own course in this one precious life,” she said.
The ceremony is open to the public. But those who wish to see Lythcott-Haims speak are asked to stay for the entire event out of respect for the graduating seniors and their families.