Look for An Evening with Vernon Jordan '57 on PBS Stations

October 16, 2014

Over the next month, PBS affliliates around America will be airing An Evening with Vernon Jordan. Taped in New York City in the spring, the program features a one-on-one interview of Jordan, described as "one of the most iconic civic and business leaders of today." The conversation is moderated by Gwen Ifill (an Ubben Lecturer at DePauw in 1997) and is part of "The HistoryMakers" series of profiles of African American leaders.

The show begins with a musical photo tribute to Vernon Jordan sung by tenor Rodrick Dixon. It includes appearances by Charlayne Hunter-Gault, who worked with Jordan to integrate the University of Georgia in 1961, as well as American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns.

According to the program, "Vernon’s life story is the embodiment of the American dream from the public projects of Atlanta to the corridors of power in both the political and business arenas, he has seen and done it all. But, perhaps what is most inspirational about Vernon is that he has used his power with a single-minded purpose -- to make our society more just and our country more equal. He attended DePauw University in Greencastle, graduating from there (in 1957) as the only African American in his class. From there, he went on to attend Howard University Law School before going to work for the NAACP, the Voter Education Project and the United Negro College Fund. The National Urban League would experience tremendous growth under Jordan."

Check local listings for airdates and times.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was recently awarded The American Lawyer magazine's 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2014 Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

A political science major as an undergraduate, Jordan is a former member of DePauw's Board of Trustees. He has twice presented the commencement address at DePauw, in 1973 and 1993.

A longtime adviser to Bill Clinton, Jordan returned to DePauw on November 18, 2011 to introduce the former president at DePauw's 25th anniversary Ubben Lecture. A summary of the event can be accessed here.