This subseries consists of material relating to Commencement and/or convocation events Mary Robinson (MR) attended as speaker, excluding those she attended as Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin (P143/3/1/8), and is arranged chronologically.

[For material relating to honorary degrees she received, see P143/10]

Booklet of University of Andrews Graduation Ceremonies 1991-1992 Laureation Addresses, including Mary Robinson (MR)'s address, 02/07/1992; letter from Kristine Strachan, Dean and Professor of Law, University of San Diego (USD), inviting MR participate in their Commencement activities May 1994 or 1995, 20/12/1993, and letter from Dr Yvonne Scannell, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, who had forwarded the invite to MR, and recommending USD to her, 13/01/1994; correspondence between Prof John Kenneth Galbraith, Harvard University and MR in relation to MR attending commencement gathering, June 1998, 05-11/05/1998; list of invitations from foreign universities covering both invites to deliver addresses, and honorary degrees, 1991-1994.

Programme for 158th commencement at Austin College, Sherman, Texas, at which Mary Robinson (MR) was a speaker, 16/05/2004; material relating to 169th commencement at Wheaton College, Norton Massachusetts, USA, at which MR was speaker, 22/05/2004, including correspondence between MR, Patti Mitrushi, American Program Bureau, and Dale Rogers Marshall, and Michael Graca, Wheaton College, relating to invite and logistics, event itinerary, "Top 10 facts about Wheaton 2003" background document, and fax of Order of Exercises, 04/03-20/05/2004; programme booklet for McGill [University, Montréal Québec, Canada] Spring Convocation, Law, at which MR gave convocation address, 04/06/2004*.

[Archivist’s note: For material relating to campaign to rescind MR’s invite based on allegations of antisemitism, see P143/5/2/10].

Material relating to Mary Robinson giving keynote address at SciencesPo [Paris] Master of Public Affairs (MPA) class of 2009, on 18 June, including letter of invite from Richard Descoings, Director, SciencesPo, 28/01/2009, email correspondence between MR, Mary Baylis [personal assistant to MR], Laurence Tubiana, SciencesPo, and Rachel Becker-Raffenne, Program Assistant, SciencesPo, 16/01-25/06/2009, speaking notes for MR with notation from MR, programme for graduation ceremony, and printed itinerary, and folder of MPA Profiles 2009 at SciencesPo.

Material relating to Mary Robinson (MR) giving Commencement address at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA, on 12 May 2012, including photocopy of letter of invite to MR from Jane McAuliffe, President of Bryn Mawr, 30/06/2011, correspondence between Shaj Mathew, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Mary Baylis, [Personal Assistant to MR], ahead of interview in conjunction with MR's address, 05-17/04/2012, MR's handwritten draft address and notes, itinerary, and print out of article on Bryn Mawr, "the women's college in Pennsylvania", The New York Times, 22/09/2010; programme, order of events protocol draft and final document, and draft address with notations for conferring of an Honorary Degree, jointly by the Universities of Ireland North and South on Charles F (Chuck) Feeney, founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, at Dublin Castle, 06/09/2012, at which MR as Chancellor of The University of Dublin, gave closing address.

Material relating to Cleveland State University Commencement for class of 2016, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, at which MR was Commencement speaker and recipient of Honorary Degree-Doctor of Law, 15/05/2016, including programme, handwritten notes, and letter with press release from Craig M Boise, Dean and Joseph C Hostetler-BakerHostetler Chair in Law, to Susan [?], 15/10/2015.

Print out of excerpt of "Verses for A Fordham Commencement" by Séamus Heaney, which he delivered as the 137th commencement address to students of Fordham University, in 1982. This is not an exact excerpt, contains typos and appears to be transcribed by a third party who misheard some and was unsure of other words. It was probably later quoted by Mary Robinson in one of her commencement addresses.

This subseries consists of general correspondence relating to Mary Robinson's work at/with various academic institutions, and is arranged chronologically across 9 files.

This subseries consists of eight posters for addresses given by Mary Robinson at academic institutions, 1995-2015. See also P143/3/21.

"Human Rights - Their Origin and Development" poster for module for post primary school students, by Churches' Peace Programme of The Irish Commission for Justice and Peace, 199[?]