CONYERS: Clark Atlanta University to Award Four Honorary Degrees to Iconic Trailblazers

ATLANTA (May 17, 2017)    Clark Atlanta University will bestow four doctoral degrees honoris causa during the 2017 Commencement Convocation Monday, May 22, 8 a.m. at Panther Stadium, 735 Beckwith St. SW. “These four pioneers were selected carefully from the areas of civil and human rights, politics and STEM,” says Ronald A. Johnson, President of Clark Atlanta University. “Their rich legacy is to be honored and celebrated.”

Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa -  U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): Congressman Conyers represents Michigan’s 13^th congressional district. Conyers is the longest serving member of the United States Congress, since 1965. He is the first African-American to hold the distinction as Dean. With more than 50 years of public service, Conyers has been the proponent of dozens of legislative bills including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Conyers was the first to introduce the original Martin Luther King Holiday Act of 1983.

Doctor of Human Letters Honoris Causa – William Pickard, Ph.D.: Pickard began his entrepreneurial career as a McDonald’s franchisee more than 45 years ago. He is the chairman and CEO of VITEC and Global Automotive Alliance. In 1982 Pres. Ronald Reagan nominated, and Senate confirmed, Pickard as the first chairman of the African Development Foundation (ADF).

Doctor of Science Honoris Causa (in absentia) - Retired NASA Mathematician Katherine G. Johnson: Johnson made significant contributions to the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program. During segregation Johnson defeated an oppressive work environment while calculating the trajectories, launch windows and return patterns for NASA’s space shuttle programs. Her career was one of the inspirations behind the box office film “Hidden Figures.”  “I loved learning at all times” says Johnson. “You’ll do better in life if you want to learn, want to teach, want to help others.”

Doctor of Laws Degree Honoris Causa  - Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.: Rev. Jackson has made significant contributions to the Civil Rights movement and to America’s political and religious landscapes. In the 1980s Rev. Jackson fought twice for the Democratic presidential nomination. For his contributions to society, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000 from President Bill Clinton. Rev. Jackson is the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Jackson champions an array of causes including civil rights, economic justice and peace. 

For more information on the 2017 Clark Atlanta University Commencement schedule visitwww.CAU.edu.

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JOINT STATEMENT FROM CBC CHAIRMAN & TOP JUDICIARY DEMOCRAT ON TRUMP ATTEMPT TO WALK BACK HBCU COMMENTS

WASHINGTON – The Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-La.), and the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s attempt to walk back his recent comments on HBCUs. On Friday, while signing a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill, President Trump questioned the constitutionality of HBCU funding.

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Based on President Trump’s record on HBCUs, we think it’s safe to say that he meant what he said on Friday and that last night’s statement, much like the HBCU executive order, meeting, and photo, are just PR.

“He held a meeting with more than 70 HBCU presidents in February and then said after the meeting that they didn’t ask him for anything even though they did. He signed an executive order that moves the HBCU initiative into the White House but does little else. In addition, his budget proposes to give HBCUs the same amount of funding they received last year, even though their operational costs are increasing, and to cut programs like Pell Grants that support students served by these schools.

“Sadly and shamefully, HBCUs, including the schools that President Trump met with, are left to wonder whether he wants to help or hurt them. If President Trump really wants to help HBCUs, he’ll implement the proposals the CBC has suggested to him in several letters (February 27, March 22), including the letter we sent him on April 27 calling for robust funding for a host of programs that support students served by these schools.” 

The $1.1 trillion omnibus bill that President Trump signed on Fridayincluded funding for year-around Pell Grants ($22.5 billion), TRIO ($950 million), and Gear Up ($340 million) and was the result of negotiations by Congressional Republicans and Democrats that began before President Trump took office.

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CONYERS CONDEMNS INSULTING STATEMENT BY DEVOS ON HBCUS

Washington, DC – Congressman John Conyers, Jr (MI-14) today released the following statement:

“

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

Last night, the Department of Education published a press release with a quote from Secretary of Education Betsy Devos that is shocking and insulting. In her statement, Mrs. Devos says that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were “started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education,” and that therefore they are “real pioneers when it comes to school choice.”

“Let’s be clear, HBCUs were started because of Jim Crow laws. Black students did not “choose” HBCUs over the all-white colleges -- they were barred from attending due to their race. This statement by Mrs. Devos reveals either a stunning ignorance of history on the part of the person tasked with overseeing our nation’s education system, or an inability to acknowledge our nation’s shameful history of racial discrimination in education, both public and private.

“These statements are not surprising.  Mrs. Devos’s “work” in Michigan pushing for an education system that increases segregation, improves schools for wealthy students, and destroys choices in minority and underserved communities, should have disqualified her from serving in her current position.   As should the fact that neither she nor her family have ever attended or worked in a public school, and she appears to be wholly ignorant of even the basic principles of either teaching or educational management.

“Every day of this administration brings a new level of incompetence and insincerity. Yesterday’s attempt to whitewash the stain of segregation into an argument for privatizing our public schools is perhaps a new low in her current position.  I condemn this misguided statement, and I urge her to continue meeting with the leadership of our nation’s HBCUs to better understand their mission and how the Department can better adopt policies to expand equal access to quality education.”

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