Youngest lieutenant governor to speak at MLK event
The youngest lieutenant governor in the country—and the highest ranking African-American state elected official—will be the featured speaker at CWRU's 2002 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation.
Joe
Rogers, lieutenant governor of Colorado, will headline the convocation,
which is from noon to 1:30 p.m. January 24. The event has been moved from
Amasa Stone Chapel to Strosacker Auditorium this year due to renovation
projects in the chapel.
In addition to the featured speaker, the convocation will include a performance by the Cleveland School of the Arts R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir. The student winner of the Universityıs Sixth Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest also will read his or her winning essay.
In addition, the CWRU Share the Vision "Peace by Piece" quilt, a memorial to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, will be unveiled during the convocation. The quilting project, launched last fall, resulted in 162 squares—all decorated by CWRU students, faculty and staff—sewn into three movable panels that represent the group's vision for peace and justice.
Rogers, 35, has served as Republican lieutenant governor of Colorado since 1999. Last year he was honored with the Trumpet Award, one of the nation's highest honors recognizing African-Americans who have made significant contributions to and enhanced the quality of life for all Americans.
"Many past convocation speakers have been from Dr. King's generation. Since Joe Rogers represents a new generation of leadership, he will offer a little different perspective than previous speakers," said Robert V. Edwards, assistant to the president for minority affairs. "He will speak even more to the relevance of Dr. King's message to contemporary life—and the relevance of the message to all people, not just to African-Americans."
Rogers is chairman of the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association and serves on the executive committee of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors. He also is chairman of the Governors' Task Force on the Welfare of Children and sponsored the first Colorado Lieutenant Governor's Conference on Youth Education in 2000.
