Harvard professor to give Holy Cross commencement talk

Courtesy/Holy Cross James O'Connell, the president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, will give Holy Cross' commencement address next month.

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A Harvard Medical School professor and founding physician of a health care program for the homeless in Boston will be the commencement speaker next month for College of the Holy Cross.

James O'Connell, now the president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, has been with the organization since its inception in 1985. It now serves more than 12,000 homeless people each year in two hospital-based clinics and more than 60 shelter and outreach sites.

The group says it is the largest such program in the country.

O'Connell is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, of which he is also a graduate.

Holy Cross' graduation ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 26 at the DCU Center.

A former New England Patriot, Joe Andruzzi, will be the commencement speaker at Worcester State University. Andruzzi was a Patriot from 2000 to 2005, and went on to form the C.J. Buckley Brain Cancer Research Fund at Boston Children’s Hospital.

The ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 13 at the DCU Center.

As reported last week, Worcester Railers Hockey Club owner Cliff Rucker will give the commencement speech for Becker College, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 6 at the DCU Center.