Michelle Obama gives commencement speech at City College

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Friday, June 3, 2016
First lady Michelle Obama in a yellow dress
First lady Michelle Obama and her guests applaud during President Barack Obama State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

HARLEM, New York -- Michelle Obama on Friday delivered the final commencement speech of her tenure as first lady at New York's City College.

Mrs. Obama addressed more than 3,000 members of the Class of 2016 at the 169-year-old public college on Friday.

She praised the school's diversity, telling the graduates they're "living, breathing proof that the American Dream endures in our time."

City College President Lisa S. Coico presented an honorary doctorate of humane letters to the first lady.

City College of New York was founded in 1847 and has long prided itself on educating immigrants and those without the means of attending a private university.

More than 40 percent of City College's students are first-generation college students and half are from low-income households.

The college counts 10 Nobel Prize winners among its alumni.

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