"Vernon Jordan ('57) Could Be President," Rev. Al Sharpton Says

October 1, 2003

October 1, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - In an online interview summarized in an article on Yahoo! News, Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton is asked about African Americans who could be president today. "I would say [Clinton advisor] Vernon Jordan could be president," Sharpton responds, adding, "I would say [Clinton labor secretary] Alexis Herman could be president. I would say [San Francisco Mayor] Willie Brown could be president. Also [California Rep.] Maxine Waters and probably [New York Rep.] Charlie Rangel."

Vernon E. Jordan Jr., senior managing partner at Lazard LLC, a major figure in the civil rights movement and a 1957 graduate of DePauw University, received the Trumpet Award earlier this year in a nationally-televised ceremony ( [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Vernon Jordan for President?" 289KB]"How about this? Vernon Jordan for president. Sign me up," in a taped message that was played as his former adviser received the Trumpet Award.

The author of Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir and the former president of the National Urban League, Jordan was cited as one of "The Top 50 African Americans On Wall Street" in the October 2002 issue of Black Enterprise. In July 2002, Forbes listed Jordan as the ninth most powerful black executive in America. In 2001, he was honored with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Spingarn Medal. At the ceremony, Jordan stated, [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "DePauw" 902KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "DePauw" 55KB]“DePauw University and Howard University Law School were important stops on the journey, for they expanded my mind and broadened my horizons.”

Vernon Jordan marked the original release of his book, which is now also available in paperback and on audio cassette, with a speech at DePauw's Old Gold Convocation on October 27, 2001, in which he spoke of his days as a student in Greencastle (access a story with video and audio clips here). [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "No Regrets" 346KB]"If I had it to do it over again, I would come back here," Jordan continued. "And that's not rhetoric, that's the truth. I got a very good education, I made very good friends (and) I was able to participate in the University as a Trustee."