{"id":239312,"date":"2018-02-28T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=239312"},"modified":"2023-11-08T20:53:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T01:53:55","slug":"john-lewis-named-harvard-commencement-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/02\/john-lewis-named-harvard-commencement-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis named Harvard Commencement speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-classic has-colored-heading has-media-on-the-left\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JnIS2PLqUU8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Video director and editor: Ned Brown\/Harvard Staff<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tCampus &amp; Community\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tLewis named Harvard Commencement speaker\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t<p class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tProminent Civil Rights leader and congressman will address Afternoon Program\t\t<\/p>\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2018-02-28\">\n\t\t\tFebruary 28, 2018\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t5 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-right is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-f1f2ed93 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Harvard President Drew Faust said. \u201cHis public service legacy is unparalleled, and he is an inspiration to me and to countless other people across the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president of Harvard, I have been fortunate to welcome Rep. Lewis to campus on several occasions, most memorably in 2012 when he was awarded an honorary degree and in 2016 when he joined me in dedicating a plaque on Wadsworth House in honor of four enslaved persons who lived there in the 1700s. I look forward to hearing his message at Commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard in 2012, was born to Alabama sharecroppers in 1940 and raised in the Jim Crow South. As a teenager, inspired by the activism of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio, he decided to join the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at Fisk University, he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Riders, protesting segregation by occupying bus seats reserved for whites in the South. The buses were routinely attacked by armed, angry mobs, and that summer Lewis was arrested and beaten \u2014 the first of many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, and severe injuries that he sustained during the Civil Rights era.<\/p>\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\n<p>By 1963, Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the\u00a0\u201cBig Six\u201d leaders who organized the historic March on Washington; he was the event\u2019s youngest keynote speaker and is the only one still living. During Freedom Summer in 1964, he took part in voter registration drives in Mississippi. In March 1965, Lewis and fellow Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams\u00a0led more than 600 marchers across the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge\u00a0in\u00a0Selma, Ala., where they were caught in a violent maelstrom of tear gas, lunging police dogs, club-wielding onlookers, and punishing fire hoses turned on full blast. Lewis was left with a fractured skull, and the event, broadcast nationwide, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In 1977, President Jimmy Carter\u2019s White House called on Lewis to direct ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he entered political life as a member of the Atlanta City Council, and five years later was elected to Congress, representing Atlanta and outlying areas. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of both Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Lewis holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities including Columbia, Duke, Howard, and Princeton.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who as a boy was denied a library card because of his race, is the author of several books. His trilogy \u201cMARCH,\u201d a graphic novel memoir written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, was a best-seller and won the National Book Award. The\u00a0\u201cMARCH\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>trilogy has been adopted into the core curricula of school systems\u00a0across the country to teach the Civil Rights Movement, and has been selected as a first-year reading text at a variety of colleges and universities.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lincoln Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the only John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.\u00a0Last year, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Center for Public Leadership<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a>\u00a0honored Lewis with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/gleitsman-citizen-activist-award\">Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award<\/a>\u00a0for his 60-year career of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society,\u201d said Susan Morris Novick \u201985, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. \u201cI am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program on Commencement Day, Lewis will address the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, held in Harvard Yard\u2019s Tercentenary Theatre between Widener Library and the Memorial Church.<\/p>\n<p><em>For a full schedule of Commencement Week events, visit the Commencement Office\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.harvard.edu\/events-schedule\"><em>website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":239374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":301,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2026-03-27 02:42","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"","affiliation":"","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1364],"tags":[39700,3213,8400,8841,11407,15359,19626],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[52981],"class_list":["post-239312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-367th-commencement","tag-afternoon-program","tag-civil-rights-movement","tag-commencement","tag-drew-faust-2","tag-harvard","tag-john-lewis","series-commencement-2018"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.0 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>John Lewis named Harvard Commencement speaker &#8212; Harvard Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"U.S. Rep. 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Community\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tLewis named Harvard Commencement speaker\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t<p class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tProminent Civil Rights leader and congressman will address Afternoon Program\t\t<\/p>\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2018-02-28\">\n\t\t\tFebruary 28, 2018\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t5 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"right"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Harvard President Drew Faust said. \u201cHis public service legacy is unparalleled, and he is an inspiration to me and to countless other people across the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president of Harvard, I have been fortunate to welcome Rep. Lewis to campus on several occasions, most memorably in 2012 when he was awarded an honorary degree and in 2016 when he joined me in dedicating a plaque on Wadsworth House in honor of four enslaved persons who lived there in the 1700s. I look forward to hearing his message at Commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard in 2012, was born to Alabama sharecroppers in 1940 and raised in the Jim Crow South. As a teenager, inspired by the activism of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio, he decided to join the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at Fisk University, he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Riders, protesting segregation by occupying bus seats reserved for whites in the South. The buses were routinely attacked by armed, angry mobs, and that summer Lewis was arrested and beaten \u2014 the first of many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, and severe injuries that he sustained during the Civil Rights era.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Harvard President Drew Faust said. \u201cHis public service legacy is unparalleled, and he is an inspiration to me and to countless other people across the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president of Harvard, I have been fortunate to welcome Rep. Lewis to campus on several occasions, most memorably in 2012 when he was awarded an honorary degree and in 2016 when he joined me in dedicating a plaque on Wadsworth House in honor of four enslaved persons who lived there in the 1700s. I look forward to hearing his message at Commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard in 2012, was born to Alabama sharecroppers in 1940 and raised in the Jim Crow South. As a teenager, inspired by the activism of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio, he decided to join the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at Fisk University, he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Riders, protesting segregation by occupying bus seats reserved for whites in the South. The buses were routinely attacked by armed, angry mobs, and that summer Lewis was arrested and beaten \u2014 the first of many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, and severe injuries that he sustained during the Civil Rights era.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Harvard President Drew Faust said. \u201cHis public service legacy is unparalleled, and he is an inspiration to me and to countless other people across the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president of Harvard, I have been fortunate to welcome Rep. Lewis to campus on several occasions, most memorably in 2012 when he was awarded an honorary degree and in 2016 when he joined me in dedicating a plaque on Wadsworth House in honor of four enslaved persons who lived there in the 1700s. I look forward to hearing his message at Commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard in 2012, was born to Alabama sharecroppers in 1940 and raised in the Jim Crow South. As a teenager, inspired by the activism of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio, he decided to join the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at Fisk University, he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Riders, protesting segregation by occupying bus seats reserved for whites in the South. The buses were routinely attacked by armed, angry mobs, and that summer Lewis was arrested and beaten \u2014 the first of many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, and severe injuries that he sustained during the Civil Rights era.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/quote","attrs":{"value":"<cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite>","citation":"Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president","textAlign":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite><\/blockquote>","innerContent":["<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">","<cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite><\/blockquote>"],"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite><\/blockquote>"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>By 1963, Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the\u00a0\u201cBig Six\u201d leaders who organized the historic March on Washington; he was the event\u2019s youngest keynote speaker and is the only one still living. During Freedom Summer in 1964, he took part in voter registration drives in Mississippi. In March 1965, Lewis and fellow Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams\u00a0led more than 600 marchers across the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge\u00a0in\u00a0Selma, Ala., where they were caught in a violent maelstrom of tear gas, lunging police dogs, club-wielding onlookers, and punishing fire hoses turned on full blast. Lewis was left with a fractured skull, and the event, broadcast nationwide, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In 1977, President Jimmy Carter\u2019s White House called on Lewis to direct ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he entered political life as a member of the Atlanta City Council, and five years later was elected to Congress, representing Atlanta and outlying areas. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of both Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Lewis holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities including Columbia, Duke, Howard, and Princeton.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who as a boy was denied a library card because of his race, is the author of several books. His trilogy \u201cMARCH,\u201d a graphic novel memoir written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, was a best-seller and won the National Book Award. The\u00a0\u201cMARCH\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>trilogy has been adopted into the core curricula of school systems\u00a0across the country to teach the Civil Rights Movement, and has been selected as a first-year reading text at a variety of colleges and universities.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lincoln Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the only John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.\u00a0Last year, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Center for Public Leadership<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a>\u00a0honored Lewis with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/gleitsman-citizen-activist-award\">Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award<\/a>\u00a0for his 60-year career of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society,\u201d said Susan Morris Novick \u201985, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. \u201cI am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program on Commencement Day, Lewis will address the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, held in Harvard Yard\u2019s Tercentenary Theatre between Widener Library and the Memorial Church.<\/p>\n<p><em>For a full schedule of Commencement Week events, visit the Commencement Office\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.harvard.edu\/events-schedule\"><em>website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","innerContent":["\n<p>By 1963, Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the\u00a0\u201cBig Six\u201d leaders who organized the historic March on Washington; he was the event\u2019s youngest keynote speaker and is the only one still living. During Freedom Summer in 1964, he took part in voter registration drives in Mississippi. In March 1965, Lewis and fellow Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams\u00a0led more than 600 marchers across the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge\u00a0in\u00a0Selma, Ala., where they were caught in a violent maelstrom of tear gas, lunging police dogs, club-wielding onlookers, and punishing fire hoses turned on full blast. Lewis was left with a fractured skull, and the event, broadcast nationwide, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In 1977, President Jimmy Carter\u2019s White House called on Lewis to direct ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he entered political life as a member of the Atlanta City Council, and five years later was elected to Congress, representing Atlanta and outlying areas. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of both Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Lewis holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities including Columbia, Duke, Howard, and Princeton.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who as a boy was denied a library card because of his race, is the author of several books. His trilogy \u201cMARCH,\u201d a graphic novel memoir written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, was a best-seller and won the National Book Award. The\u00a0\u201cMARCH\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>trilogy has been adopted into the core curricula of school systems\u00a0across the country to teach the Civil Rights Movement, and has been selected as a first-year reading text at a variety of colleges and universities.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lincoln Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the only John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.\u00a0Last year, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Center for Public Leadership<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a>\u00a0honored Lewis with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/gleitsman-citizen-activist-award\">Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award<\/a>\u00a0for his 60-year career of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society,\u201d said Susan Morris Novick \u201985, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. \u201cI am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program on Commencement Day, Lewis will address the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, held in Harvard Yard\u2019s Tercentenary Theatre between Widener Library and the Memorial Church.<\/p>\n<p><em>For a full schedule of Commencement Week events, visit the Commencement Office\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.harvard.edu\/events-schedule\"><em>website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>By 1963, Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the\u00a0\u201cBig Six\u201d leaders who organized the historic March on Washington; he was the event\u2019s youngest keynote speaker and is the only one still living. During Freedom Summer in 1964, he took part in voter registration drives in Mississippi. In March 1965, Lewis and fellow Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams\u00a0led more than 600 marchers across the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge\u00a0in\u00a0Selma, Ala., where they were caught in a violent maelstrom of tear gas, lunging police dogs, club-wielding onlookers, and punishing fire hoses turned on full blast. Lewis was left with a fractured skull, and the event, broadcast nationwide, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In 1977, President Jimmy Carter\u2019s White House called on Lewis to direct ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he entered political life as a member of the Atlanta City Council, and five years later was elected to Congress, representing Atlanta and outlying areas. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of both Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Lewis holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities including Columbia, Duke, Howard, and Princeton.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who as a boy was denied a library card because of his race, is the author of several books. His trilogy \u201cMARCH,\u201d a graphic novel memoir written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, was a best-seller and won the National Book Award. The\u00a0\u201cMARCH\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>trilogy has been adopted into the core curricula of school systems\u00a0across the country to teach the Civil Rights Movement, and has been selected as a first-year reading text at a variety of colleges and universities.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lincoln Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the only John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.\u00a0Last year, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Center for Public Leadership<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a>\u00a0honored Lewis with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/gleitsman-citizen-activist-award\">Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award<\/a>\u00a0for his 60-year career of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society,\u201d said Susan Morris Novick \u201985, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. \u201cI am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program on Commencement Day, Lewis will address the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, held in Harvard Yard\u2019s Tercentenary Theatre between Widener Library and the Memorial Church.<\/p>\n<p><em>For a full schedule of Commencement Week events, visit the Commencement Office\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.harvard.edu\/events-schedule\"><em>website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-right is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-f1f2ed93 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights leader who has represented Georgia\u2019s 5th District for more than 30 years, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program of Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement on May 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, John Lewis has dedicated himself to the ideals of equality and decency, standing up for what is right, even when it meant putting himself in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Harvard President Drew Faust said. \u201cHis public service legacy is unparalleled, and he is an inspiration to me and to countless other people across the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs president of Harvard, I have been fortunate to welcome Rep. Lewis to campus on several occasions, most memorably in 2012 when he was awarded an honorary degree and in 2016 when he joined me in dedicating a plaque on Wadsworth House in honor of four enslaved persons who lived there in the 1700s. I look forward to hearing his message at Commencement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard in 2012, was born to Alabama sharecroppers in 1940 and raised in the Jim Crow South. As a teenager, inspired by the activism of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio, he decided to join the Civil Rights Movement. As a student at Fisk University, he organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Riders, protesting segregation by occupying bus seats reserved for whites in the South. The buses were routinely attacked by armed, angry mobs, and that summer Lewis was arrested and beaten \u2014 the first of many arrests, beatings, imprisonments, and severe injuries that he sustained during the Civil Rights era.<\/p>\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society. I am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Susan Morris Novick \u201985, Harvard Alumni Association president<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\n<p>By 1963, Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of the\u00a0\u201cBig Six\u201d leaders who organized the historic March on Washington; he was the event\u2019s youngest keynote speaker and is the only one still living. During Freedom Summer in 1964, he took part in voter registration drives in Mississippi. In March 1965, Lewis and fellow Civil Rights activist Hosea Williams\u00a0led more than 600 marchers across the\u00a0Edmund Pettus Bridge\u00a0in\u00a0Selma, Ala., where they were caught in a violent maelstrom of tear gas, lunging police dogs, club-wielding onlookers, and punishing fire hoses turned on full blast. Lewis was left with a fractured skull, and the event, broadcast nationwide, hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In 1977, President Jimmy Carter\u2019s White House called on Lewis to direct ACTION, a federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he entered political life as a member of the Atlanta City Council, and five years later was elected to Congress, representing Atlanta and outlying areas. He is senior chief deputy whip for the Democratic Party in the House, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight.<\/p>\n<p>A graduate of both Fisk University and the American Baptist Theological Seminary, Lewis holds more than 50 honorary degrees from universities including Columbia, Duke, Howard, and Princeton.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis, who as a boy was denied a library card because of his race, is the author of several books. His trilogy \u201cMARCH,\u201d a graphic novel memoir written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, was a best-seller and won the National Book Award. The\u00a0\u201cMARCH\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>trilogy has been adopted into the core curricula of school systems\u00a0across the country to teach the Civil Rights Movement, and has been selected as a first-year reading text at a variety of colleges and universities.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lincoln Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the only John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.\u00a0Last year, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Center for Public Leadership<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a>\u00a0honored Lewis with the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cpl.hks.harvard.edu\/gleitsman-citizen-activist-award\">Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award<\/a>\u00a0for his 60-year career of advancing human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn Lewis has dedicated his life to making the United States a more just and equitable society,\u201d said Susan Morris Novick \u201985, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. \u201cI am sure that his courage, his compassion, and his commitment to service will inspire Harvard alumni and students alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the principal speaker at the Afternoon Program on Commencement Day, Lewis will address the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, held in Harvard Yard\u2019s Tercentenary Theatre between Widener Library and the Memorial Church.<\/p>\n<p><em>For a full schedule of Commencement Week events, visit the Commencement Office\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/commencement.harvard.edu\/events-schedule\"><em>website.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":245663,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/05\/lewis-and-faust-tell-class-of-18-to-rise-to-occasion\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":0},"title":"Facing the future, Lewis and Faust see reason for hope","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"May 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard Commencement Speaker John Lewis exhorts graduates to get to work in the fight for justice.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Lewis speaks to Harvard graduates.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/052418_compm_ks_1275_25001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/052418_compm_ks_1275_25001.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/052418_compm_ks_1275_25001.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/052418_compm_ks_1275_25001.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":245840,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/05\/the-myriad-moments-of-harvards-2018-commencement\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":1},"title":"The myriad moments of Commencement","author":"Stephanie Mitchell","date":"May 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The weeklong buildup to Commencement Day\u2019s ancient and scripted rites is a feast for the eyes, the ears, the palate, but mostly the heart.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/com_2018_011.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/com_2018_011.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/com_2018_011.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/com_2018_011.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":236641,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/01\/guidelines-for-harvards-367th-commencement-exercises\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":2},"title":"Guidelines for Harvard\u2019s 367th Commencement","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"January 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"To accommodate the increasing number of people wishing to attend Harvard\u2019s Commencement Exercises, interested readers should carefully review the guidelines.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harvard Commencement","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/052913_class_ks_162_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/052913_class_ks_162_2500.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/052913_class_ks_162_2500.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/052913_class_ks_162_2500.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166304,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/02\/patrick-named-commencement-speaker\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":3},"title":"Patrick named Commencement speaker","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Deval L. Patrick, who recently concluded two terms as governor of Massachusetts, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard\u2019s 364th Commencement in May.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/patrick_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/patrick_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/patrick_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":309190,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/07\/remembering-john-lewis-civil-rights-icon-and-teller-of-truths\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":4},"title":"The conscience of a nation","author":"gazettebeckycoleman","date":"July 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Few political leaders who successfully transition from activists to lawmakers do so without losing the fire and focus on the causes that brought them to prominence. But Civil Rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who died Friday, was that kind of rare leader.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Lewis at Harvard's 2018 Commencement.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lewistribute2018.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lewistribute2018.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lewistribute2018.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lewistribute2018.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":338603,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2022\/02\/jacinda-ardern-named-class-of-2022-commencement-speaker\/","url_meta":{"origin":239312,"position":5},"title":"Jacinda Ardern named Class of 2022 Commencement speaker","author":"gazettebeckycoleman","date":"February 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard President Larry Bacow cites the New Zealand prime minister\u2019s \u201ccompassionate leadership.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jacinda Ardern.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20220214_JA_AP_21284203431050.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20220214_JA_AP_21284203431050.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20220214_JA_AP_21284203431050.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/20220214_JA_AP_21284203431050.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239312"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239425,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239312\/revisions\/239425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239312"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=239312"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=239312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}