Attorney General William Tong Named Mitchell College Class of 2023 Commencement Speaker
Mitchell College marks its 79th Commencement Exercises on Sat., May 13, with Attorney General William Tong delivering the keynote address to the Class of 2023. The ceremony takes place at 10 a.m. on the Mitchell College Green.
William Tong is the 25th attorney general to serve Connecticut, taking office in 2019, and now serving his second term. He was the first Asian American elected to statewide office in Connecticut, and the first Chinese American to be elected attorney general nationwide. He served for 12 years as a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, where he served as House chairman of the Judiciary Committee as well as the Banking Committee.
Dr. Tracy Y. Espy, Mitchell College president, said, “We are truly honored that Attorney General Tong will deliver the keynote address to our graduating class. As a public servant he has addressed issues that touch the lives of Connecticut residents, including many of our students and their families. His lived experiences are sure to inspire our graduates, and we look forward to welcoming him.”
In his work as attorney general, and previously as a state legislator, William Tong has been dedicated to safeguarding civil rights and freedoms, protecting the rights of women, minority communities, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. Attorney General Tong is a national leader in many of the most consequential lawsuits and investigations in our country today, including bipartisan, multistate efforts to hold companies and individuals accountable for their role in the opioid crisis; to restore fair competition and prices in the generic drug industry; to hold social media companies accountable for the harms they may cause to kids and young people; to stop robocall scammers; and to ensure corporations safeguard our personal information from misuse and respect consumers’ rights regarding the collection and use of their information.
A Connecticut native and the oldest of five children, Attorney General Tong grew up in the Hartford area working side-by-side with his immigrant parents in their family’s Chinese restaurant. He attended schools in West Hartford and graduated from Phillips Academy Andover, Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Stamford with their three children.
