ALISO VIEJO, Calif.—Soka University of America announced actor and humanitarian Orlando Bloom as the keynote speaker of the 2025 commencement ceremony, which will be held on May 23 at its Soka Performing Arts Center.
SUA President Edward M. Feasel said that Mr. Bloom embodies everything they hope their graduates become, noting that as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, he turned his celebrity into meaningful advocacy for peace and human dignity worldwide. “His artistic excellence is matched only by his humanitarian impact,” Mr. Feasel said.
Bloom rose to international fame for his roles in The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, two of the most iconic film franchises of all time. In the years since, he has used his platform to advocate for humanitarian causes worldwide, including the protection of children’s rights in conflict.
Bloom has traveled the world with UNICEF to champion the rights of children in Nepal, Bangladesh, Jordan, Liberia and Ukraine, receiving the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award in 2015 for his advocacy.
He is a longtime member of the Soka Gakkai International. In 2006, Bloom met with SUA founder, and SGI president, Daisaku Ikeda, whom he considers his mentor in life, and received the following encouragement from him: “Success today doesn’t automatically guarantee success tomorrow. Final victory is eternal victory. That’s my advice to you as a friend” (Sept. 1, 2006, World Tribune, p. 4). Since then, Bloom has devoted his life and art to serving humanity.
SUA was founded on May 3, 2001, by Daisaku Ikeda as a nonsectarian, four-year undergraduate university grounded in the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights and the sanctity of life. The university is open to top students of all nationalities and beliefs. SUA is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.
To learn more, visit www.soka.edu.
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