WILLIAM RASPBERRY TO BE U.VA.ŐS GRADUATION SPEAKER

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 24 -- Nationally syndicated
Washington Post columnist William J. Raspberry will address the
University of VirginiaŐs Class of 1995 at Final Exercises May 21.
	Winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, Raspberry
has been dubbed the ŇLone Ranger of Columnists.Ó His often
unpredictable views on such topics as crime, AIDS, the Nation of
Islam and violent rap lyrics appear in more than 200 newspapers
across the country.
	The son of Mississippi school teachers, he is a graduate of
Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) with a
B.S. in history.  After serving in the U.S. Army, he joined the Post
in 1962 as a teletype operator.  He was soon promoted to reporter
and in 1966 began his own column in the paperŐs Metro section.  It
proved so popular it was moved to the editorial page and eventually
syndicated by the Washington Post WriterŐs Group.  He is married to
the former Sondra Dodson of Washington, D.C. and the father of three
children.  His son Mark is a member of this yearŐs graduating class.
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January 23, 1995