University of Georgia to Award Honorary Degree to Vernon Jordan '57 for Desegregation Efforts

April 29, 2007

April 29, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - "University of Georgia officials said Friday that they will give an honorary law degree to one of the men who helped desegregate the university in 1961," reports the Athens Banner-Herald. "UGA officials said national civil rights leader and former presidential adviser Vernon Jordan will receive the honorary degree at the university's May 12 commencement ceremony for undergraduates." Jordan is a 1957 graduate of DePauw and an advisory member of the University's Board of Trustees.

"Jordan was part of the legal team that helped two blacks win admission as UGA's first black students in 1961," writes Christopher Butler. "He later organized voter registration drives throughout the South and later headed the United Negro College Fund and National Urban League. Previous recipients of honorary degrees include former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, CNN founder Ted Turner and Donald Hollowell, who was the lead attorney on the team that helped integrate UGA."

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Vernon Jordan, senior managing director of Lazard Fréres & Co. LLC, was recently featured in Newsweek. He received an honorary degree from DePauw on May 20, 1973, when he delivered the commencement address at his alma mater.

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