CNN news anchor and journalist Jake Tapper ’91 will be this year’s Commencement speaker.
Tapper is the anchor of CNN’s weekday news show “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and its Sunday morning show “State of the Union.” As the network’s chief Washington correspondent, Tapper has gained a reputation as an impartial interviewer, particularly during his coverage of the 2016 presidential election. He moderated two Republican primary debates and a Democratic town hall.
Tapper revealed he would be speaking at the College’s 2017 Commencement during a Wednesday night appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Tapper gifted Colbert a Dartmouth sweatshirt, saying, “You ended up on the cover of the alumni magazine before I did, even though you have never set foot in Hanover, New Hampshire.” Colbert’s character on his Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report” was a Dartmouth alumnus.
Tapper’s New York Times best-selling book, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” tells the story of one of the U.S.’s deadliest battles in Afghanistan. He has also published “Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency,” on the 2000 presidential election, and “Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story,” on the wrestler turned governor of Minnesota.
During his time at the College, Tapper majored in history modified by visual studies and drew comics for The Dartmouth.
