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Portland State University President Daniel O. Bernstine today announced that Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, a celebrated leader in the nation's civil rights movement, will deliver the keynote address at the University’s annual spring commencement ceremony this June.

This will not be the Congressman's first trip to Portland State - he visited campus as a part of Senator Robert Kennedy’s 1968 bid for president and again in the summer of 2003 to discuss the civil rights movement with Bernstine and members of PSU’s campus community.

"I am honored that Congressman Lewis will be PSU's 2004 commencement speaker, 40 years after he led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Mississippi Summer Project to register blacks to vote in the 1964 election. At a time when our graduates face many challenges, Congressman Lewis provides a living example of the value of social change, advocacy for peace and equal rights," said Bernstine. "Congressman Lewis was a student activist who affected great social and political change. Today he is a national and international leader recognized for his work in public service."

Commencement will take place Saturday, June 12 at 3 p.m. at Portland’s Rose Garden Arena. For additional information, visit www.pdx.edu/commencement/. The ceremony will also be broadcast on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Lewis has been in the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggles in the United States. As a student, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which were organized to challenge segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. By 1963, Lewis was recognized as one of the "Big Six" leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, along with Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins. Lewis was also one of the planners and a keynote speaker at the historic "March on Washington" in August 1963.

Despite more that 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. In 1981 he was elected to the Atlanta City Council, where he remained until his successful run for Congress in 1986, representing Georgia's Fifth Congressional District which includes Atlanta and parts of surrounding counties. Lewis is currently serving his ninth term in office. He is a member of the House Budget Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, and is the Senior Chief Deputy Democratic Whip. Rep. Lewis also serves on the Democratic Steering Committee and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers in 1940 outside of Troy, Ala., where he grew up and attended segregated public schools. He holds a bachelor's degree in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, and is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tenn. Lewis has also been awarded several honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the United States, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize and the John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for lifetime achievement.

A photograph of Lewis is available at www.house.gov/johnlewis/.

Portland State University, Oregon's only urban university, is the largest and most diverse in the state system. The University's position in Oregon's economic and cultural center allows for deep community engagement and the creation of partnerships with hundreds of organizations throughout the region — partnerships that give PSU students valuable learning opportunities as they solve real-world problems of business and community. Portland State offers more than 100 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as graduate certificates and continuing education programs. PSU serves more students and confers more master's degrees annually than any other Oregon university.

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Release Number: 04-009