Who’s speaking at area college commencements? More schools are going in-house.

Dickinson College has turned to one of its own to deliver the commencement address this month — popular biology professor Tiffany Frey.

It comes one year after the selective private college in Carlisle faced an uproar from faculty and students for inviting SiriusXM and CNN host Michael Smerconish to speak, over his criticism of TSA agents’ screening policy surrounding Arabs and Muslims in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The college subsequently disinvited him.

But college spokesperson Craig Layne said the decision to select Frey, the most recent winner of the college’s prestigious, student-selected inspirational teaching award, was not driven by that controversy. The school for the first time last year also included a student speaker, and students and faculty liked the approach so much that the college decided to repeat it and have a faculty member deliver the commencement address.

“Students reacted very positively to hearing from a member of their class,” Layne said.

» READ MORE: Quinta Brunson and Mayor Parker were Philly-area commencement speakers in 2024. Here’s the rest of the list.

Dickinson is one of eight area colleges, out of about 40, that will feature in-house speakers this year, up from five last year. They include: St. Joseph’s University, Delaware Valley University, and West Chester University, where students will speak; Princeton and Widener Universities, where the president will address the class; Temple University, which will hear from the board of trustees’ chair; and Thomas Jefferson University, where the head basketball coach will speak.

Among other notable speakers is Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the nation’s oldest and largest combatant command, overseeing 380,000 military personnel across 36 nations, including China, who will speak at his alma mater, Villanova University.

Here’s a look at the full lineup for undergraduate commencements at four-year colleges in our region.

Lincoln University: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the state’s first African American governor and only the third African American governor to be elected in the country.

Temple University: Mitchell L. Morgan, chairman of Temple’s board of trustees and founder and chairman of Morgan Properties.

Thomas Jefferson University: Women’s basketball head coach Tom Shirley, who led the team to 14 NCAA tournament appearances and five conference championships and recently hit 900 wins.

Pennsylvania State University Abington: ShaVon Savage, assistant superintendent of the Cheltenham School District.

Penn State, University Park: Undergraduate ceremonies will be held May 9 to 11. Speakers include: Mark Shulman, an alumnus and senior vice president of programming for Oak View Group, a global leader in the live event industry; Levon Esters, vice provost of graduate education; Judy Woodruff, broadcast journalist and senior correspondent for PBS News Hour; David Titley, Penn State alumnus, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, and retired university professor; alumna Jane R. Rigby, astrophysicist and James Webb State Telescope senior project scientist; Jhan D. Doughty, Penn State alumnus and vice president and global head of belonging and engagement at Everest Group Ltd.; Riz Shah, founder, Alchemy Ventures; Deirdra Chester, director, office of the chief scientist, United States Department of Agriculture; C. Frank Igwé, Penn State alumnus and founder and president of Moravia Health; Brett King, alumnus, producer, creative executive, and cultural influencer; Lisa Kitko, dean of the University of Rochester School of Nursing; Lori Koch, Penn State alumna and CEO of Dupont.

West Chester University: Student speakers will address graduates at commencement ceremonies May 9 to 11. They are: Lily Worster, Isaac Gabriel, Liam Mautner, Sydney Costa, Julia Barrett, Cassandra Zimmerman, Jenna Walls, Joshua Lee Gelin, Alexandra (Alex) Gianaris, Audrey Ateka, McKenna Nugent, Dominick Conte, and Khaleelah Ahmad

Cheyney University: Unknown.

Eastern University: Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol, U.K., from 2016 to 2024 and the first person of Black African heritage elected as mayor of a major European city.

Franklin and Marshall College: American writer Sandra Cisneros, who is best known for her 1984 novel, The House on Mango Street.

La Salle University: Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, who presides over the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and graduated from La Salle.

Manor College: Anatoli Murha, CEO of Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union.

Moore College of Art and Design: Author and illustrator Erin Entrada Kelly.

Penn State Brandywine: Jerry Parsons, chairman of Communications Test Design Inc.

Rowan University: Chris Gheysens, chairman and CEO of Wawa, overseeing the chain of more than 1,100 convenience stores across the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Washington.

Widener University: Widener president Stacey Robertson, who will speak at undergraduate ceremonies May 13 to 15.

St. Joseph’s University: Students speakers Symone Loving, Edwin J. Torres, and Sheridan Leak will address graduates at ceremonies May 14 to 17.

Rosemont College: Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

Arcadia University: Michele Pistone, Villanova law professor and founder and faculty director for Villanova‘s Strategic Initiative for Migrants + Refugees.

Stockton University: Alumnus Dwight McBee, chief patient experience officer at RWJBarnabas Health.

Villanova University: Admiral Samuel Paparo, a Villanova alumnus and commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Bryn Mawr College: Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia).

Chestnut Hill College: Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author, Princeton University professor in the department of African American studies, and political commentator.

Delaware Valley University: Student speakers.

Gwynedd Mercy University: The Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall-Blake, president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation and vice president of community affairs at Independence Blue Cross.

Haverford College: Track and field coach Tom Donnelly, who led Haverford for 49 seasons, and alternative death care pioneer Katrina Spade, a 1999 Haverford graduate who developed human composting as an alternative to burial and cremation.

Holy Family University: Louis Kassa III, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center.

Ursinus College: Steven Forti, chief wellness and resiliency officer at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Bucknell University: Jessica Livingston, an entrepreneur, investor, and cofounder of Silicon Valley’s startup incubator, Y Combinator.

Dickinson College: Associate professor of biology Tiffany Frey.

Immaculata University: Alumna Theresa Major Payton, the first woman to serve as chief information officer at the White House, who also appeared in CBS’s 2017 reality show Hunted, where she served as deputy director of intelligence leading teams of hunters looking for contestants.

Neumann University: Jack Lynch III, who has served as president and CEO of Main Line Health since 2005.

Lehigh University: Kate Johnson, president and chief executive officer at Lumen Technologies, a global communications and networking company.

Muhlenberg College: Beverly Daniel Tatum, an award-winning psychologist known for her expertise on race relations who formerly served as president of Spelman College.

Rutgers University-New Brunswick: Alumnus Peter Seligmann, founder and chairman of Conservation International.

University of Pennsylvania: Actor, director, producer, and alumna Elizabeth Banks, who appeared in The Hunger Games film series and directed films, including Cocaine Bear.

Rutgers University-Camden: Camden native Mickalene Thomas, a distinguished visualist and filmmaker, whose portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Lafayette College: Alumnus MK Asante, author, award-winning filmmaker, recording artist, and Morgan State University professor, who cowrote the official Monday Night Football anthem, “In the Air Tonight.”

University of Delaware: Matt O’Donnell, co-anchor of Action News Mornings.

Swarthmore College: Alumni Joseph Altuzarra, an internationally known fashion designer; Kimberly Wright Cassidy, former president of Bryn Mawr College; Maurice Eldridge, former principal of Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington and Swarthmore vice president; and Shamil Idriss, CEO of Search for Common Ground, a global peace building organization.

Princeton University: Princeton president Christopher Eisgruber.

Drexel University: Alumnus Justin Best, an American rower, Olympic gold medalist, and investment banker.