 Approximately 200 students will receive associate degrees during the
ceremony. Jackson will also receive the Honorary Doctor of Laws
degree from Lincoln College. The public is invited to attend.
Jackson began service in the U.S. House of Representatives in
1995. He was sworn in as a member of the 104th Congress, the 91st
African-American ever elected to Congress. He currently sits on the
House Appropriations Committee, serving as the fourth-most senior
Democrat on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies; the vice chair or second-most senior
Democrat on the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and
Related Programs; and a member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture,
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related
Agencies.
"He has accomplished a great deal in his public service career
and he sets an inspiring example of how much can be accomplished in
a young life. We are honored and very privileged to have him join us
as this year's commencement speaker," said Lincoln College President
John Hutchinson.
The eldest son of civil rights activist and former presidential
candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Jackson has spent his adult
life in service to his country and fighting for the rights of others
-- often the poor and unrepresented. Indeed, he spent his 21st
birthday in a jail cell for taking part in a protest against
apartheid in front of the South African Embassy.
Jackson's leadership created the National Center on Minority
Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health
in 2001, hailed by many minority health experts as the most
important civil rights legislation since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
He also secured funding for the Institute of Medicine's 2002 report
on health disparities, "Unequal Treatment." In addition, he is a
member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
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Prior to his congressional service, Jackson served as the national
field director of the National Rainbow Coalition. In this role, he
instituted a national nonpartisan program that successfully
registered millions of new voters.
Jackson graduated magna cum laude in 1987 from North Carolina A&T
State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business
management. He earned a master's degree in theology from Chicago
Theological Seminary and received his Juris Doctorate from the
University of Illinois College of Law.
He is the co-author of "A More Perfect Union: Advancing New
American Rights" (2001) with Frank E. Watkins. He also co-authored
"Legal Lynching II" (2001), "It's About the Money" (1999) and "Legal
Lynching" (1996).
A reception for the graduates and their families will immediately
follow the ceremony.
[Text from file received from
Lincoln College]
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