WILBERFORCE — Central State University will celebrate its 2017 commencement Saturday, May 6.

Jennifer Benjamin Pinckney, widow of the slain South Carolina state senator and pastor, the Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, is the keynote speaker.

She has had a fruitful career as a public service librarian at Aiken Technical College, and as a media specialist in the Aiken County Public Schools. She is currently serving as the media specialist for the Richland County School District.

Pinckney continues her husband’s work to improve the quality of life of the citizens of South Carolina with the establishment of a charitable foundation in his honor, The Honorable Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney Foundation.

Pinckney will deliver a message of hope, forgiveness and perseverance.

Approximately 240 graduates from 16 states and the District of Columbia will receive their degrees at the ceremony. Commencement is one of two weekend events that celebrate the 2017 graduates. The baccalaureate ceremony will be held 5 p.m. on Friday, May 5, in the university’s Paul Robeson Cultural & Performing Arts Center auditorium. The graduates and the CSU community will hear the message from Dr. Larry L. Macon Sr., senior pastor of the Mt. Zion Church of Oakwood Village, a suburb of Cleveland.

Macon has been a pastor, teacher and civic leader of the Greater Cleveland community for the past 34 years. Macon’s ministry focuses on the family and specializes in the areas of spiritual, personal and transformational growth. With two morning services, 25 operating ministries and a membership of 5,000, Mt. Zion is one of the leading churches in the Greater Cleveland community. This event is open to the public.

Commencement begins 10 a.m. at the Dayton Convention Center. Tickets are required for admission.