LEWISTON – A Yale law professor and expert on religious freedom will deliver the keynote address at Bates College’s 137th commencement on Monday, May 26.

Stephen L. Carter, whose books and public commentary have helped shape national debate on issues ranging from the role of religion in politics to integrity and civility in daily life, will address the school’s 450 graduates and their families.

Carter received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and his law degree from Yale. Before joining the Yale faculty in 1982, he served as a law clerk, first for the United States Court of Appeals and later for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Besides teaching constitutional law, law and religion, legal ethics and other issues at Yale, Carter is also a critically acclaimed novelist and nonfiction writer. His books include “Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby” and a bestseller, “The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion.”

Published widely in law reviews and the popular press, he has provided commentary on such television shows as “Nightline,” “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and “Face the Nation.”

Carter, former Bates President Donald Harward, United Nations Children’s Fund Executive Director Carol Bellamy and Harvard Medical School heart research pioneer Eugene Braunwald will receive honorary degrees during the ceremony.

Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen will lead the ceremony. It will be her first since being appointed president last year.

Commencement will be at 10 a.m. on the quad in front of Coram Library. In the event of rain, graduation exercises will be in Merrill Gymnasium. The ceremony is open to the public.

ltice@sunjournal.com