Congratulations to our graduating students! In keeping with Penn State’s proud academic heritage, we want to make the commencement ceremony a meaningful and enjoyable one for degree candidates and guests.
Commencement at Penn State Lehigh Valley
Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Place: Penn State Lehigh Valley, outdoor ceremony (rain or shine)
2024 Commencement Speaker
Penn State Lehigh Valley (PSU-LV)’s is pleased to announce that CBS News anchor and Penn State alumnus Jessica Kartalija has been selected to serve as the PSU-LV Spring Commencement ceremony keynote speaker.
An Emmy Award winning journalist, Kartalija anchors the 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts at CBS News in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania native was raised in San Diego, California and returned to the east coast to attend Penn State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in Spanish. While in college, Kartalija completed a semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain, and became fluent in Spanish. She also earned a Master of Arts in Marketing Communications and Media Studies from The Johns Hopkins University.
Kartalija joined the Philadelphia-based CBS News team in the fall of 2018 having anchored the 5:00 news in Baltimore prior. Since then, she’s become an active member of the community, serving on advisory boards including the Horizons Greater Philadelphia, a camp for children with cancer. She has also worked with the Special Olympics, The House of Ruth Maryland, The Women’s Initiative Network at Kennedy Krieger Institute and was on the Board of Trustees at the Irvine Nature Center.
Rhea Kochhar, ’24, the student representative on the PSU-LV 2024 Commencement Speaker Selection Committee shared, “Jessica stood out to me from the beginning. In addition to being a tremendous speaker, she’s shown enormous commitment to charitable causes including childhood cancer awareness. As a survivor myself, her story and her show of support is so inspiring. I know she will be equally passionate about her message for our graduating class.”
Kartalija’s career also extends to Hollywood. The full-time anchor claimed roles in the HBO series “Servant” and “House of Cards” on Netflix, as well as the film “Transformers.”
“Kartalija’s accomplishments as a journalist, actress, and community leader will serve as incredible inspiration to our students at the 2024 Commencement ceremony,” said PSU-LV Chancellor Tina Q. Richardson. “She is a shining example of the outstanding professionals in their PSU network which includes more than 775,000 alumni world-wide. In addition to her Emmys, her leadership position at CBS and in the community, she remains an accessible advocate and mentor to so many as an instructor. We are so pleased that she accepted her nomination to serve as our keynote this year.”
Kartalija said she is looking forward to returning to her Penn State roots. “As a proud Penn Stater, it is such an honor to be invited to speak at commencement. This class of students is just incredible, and I’m so looking forward to celebrating their accomplishments! We Are!”
Students will be provided six guest tickets for the event, which will be live streamed so additional family and friends can “attend” virtually.
Registrar Contact Information
Danyell Fondl
Campus Registrar
610-285-50560
[email protected]
Office Hours:
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Office Phone:
610-285-5060