Actor Keith David speaks at Iliff School of Theology 2025 Commencement

Join Iliff School of Theology as we celebrate the 120th graduating class with Commencement speaker, Keith David. Commencement will be held at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch. The program will begin at 10:00 AM and last until approximately 12:00 PM.

Keith David, born and raised in New York City, is a classically trained graduate of the New York High School of the Performing Arts and The Juilliard School. His work has earned him Screen Actors Guild and Tony Award nominations, an NAACP Image Award, and three Emmy Awards. A frequent collaborator with documentarian Ken Burns, David has won three Emmys for his voice-over performances in Jackie Robinson, A Necessary War, and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.

David has also enthralled viewers with his vocal talents in animated works such as The Princess and the Frog, Rick and Morty, Gargoyles, and the Prime Video hit series, Hazbin Hotel. David recently appeared in Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-winning film, American Fiction, Jordan Peele’s Nope, and is also known for his prolific work in films such as 21 Bridges, Crash, There’s Something About Mary, and many more.

On the small screen, David recently finished Duster, a new series from JJ Abrams, and The Gray House, produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman; completed five seasons starring as Bishop James Greenleaf in Greenleaf on the OWN Network; and has been featured on series such as Blackish and Community. True to his reputation as a star of stage and screen, David starred as Floyd Barton in Seven Guitars, was nominated for a Tony for his role as Chimney Man in Jelly’s Last Jam, and has toured with Too Marvelous for Words, playing the legendary Nat King Cole.

Iliff is a theological graduate school founded in 1893 that nurtures passion, cultivates compassion, and encourages social and ecological justice around the world.

At Iliff, we honor spiritual traditions that recognize the inherent dignity of all people. The diverse identities of our students, faculty and staff enrich the classroom and broaden the scope of our scholarship. Students from a range of religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds thrive at Iliff, working across lines of difference to advocate freedom.

Learn more about Iliff’s purpose, vision, and commitment.

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