Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, to deliver commencement address at Centenary for Class of 2024
SHREVEPORT, LA — Versha Sharma, a 2008 graduate of Centenary College and current editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, will deliver the commencement address to Centenary’s Class of 2024 during commencement exercises held in the College’s Gold Dome on Saturday, May 4.
“We are always especially pleased when our commencement speaker is a Centenary graduate,” said Centenary president Dr. Christopher L. Holoman. “This year, we are particularly excited to celebrate Versha’s many accomplishments to date and what will surely be an illustrious career in the days and years to come. Our students in particular are looking forward to an inspiring message.”
Sharma, a native of Alexandria, Louisiana, graduated from Centenary in 2008 with a degree in political science. She has been living and working as a journalist in New York City for more than a decade and got her start in journalism with an internship at Talking Points Memo in 2009.
Sharma is the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue, where she is focused on covering social justice, culture, fashion and politics through the lens of young people. Previously, she was Managing Editor and Senior Correspondent at NowThis, where she interviewed high-profile newsmakers like President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Amanda Gorman, and many more. Sharma led audience growth on new platforms from Instagram and Facebook to YouTube and Snapchat, working at the social video-first company since 2014.
She has produced several short documentaries and filed dispatches on immigration from the U.S.-Mexico border, reported from mass protests in St. Louis and New York, and traveled to Moscow, Russia for the show she hosted and produced, The Russia Desk. Sharma won an Edward R. Murrow award with the NowThis Reports team for a short doc about the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Prior to NowThis, she worked as a reporter and editor for Vocativ, where she managed a team of international reporters. She covered the 2012 presidential election for MSNBC.
"I'm so honored to come back to Centenary and deliver the commencement address this year, and grateful to the community for nominating me,” said Sharma. “So much of what I learned at Centenary still serves me to this day in my career, and I look forward to speaking to this year’s graduates to let them know they really have limitless possibilities ahead."
The 2024 commencement exercises at Centenary begin at 10:30 a.m. and are free and open to the public. More information, including live streaming links that will be available on the day of the ceremony, is available at centenary.edu/graduation.