Commencement 2012

On Sunday, May 20, the University of Connecticut School of Law
Will Celebrate Its 89th Commencement Exercises!

Commencement Speaker

Often called one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community" in America. His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.

The Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi has called Representative Lewis "the conscience of the U.S. Congress." And Roll Call magazine has said, "John Lewis...is a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber."

He was born the son of sharecroppers on February 21, 1940, outside of Troy, Alabama. He grew up on his family's farm and attended segregated public schools in Pike County, Alabama. As a young boy, he was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts.  In those pivotal moments, he made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggle in the United States. As a student at American Baptist College, John Lewis organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. Lewis risked his life on those Rides many times by simply sitting in seats reserved for white patrons. He was also beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by police for challenging the injustice of Jim Crow segregation in the South.

During the height of the Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was named chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for organizing student activism in the Movement, including sit-ins and other activities.

While still a young man, John Lewis became a nationally recognized leader. By 1963, he was dubbed one of the Big Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. (The others were Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins). At the age of 23, he was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963.

In 1964, John Lewis coordinated SNCC efforts to organize voter registration drives and community action programs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer. The following year, Lewis helped spearhead one of the most seminal moments of the Civil Rights Movement. Hosea Williams, another notable Civil Rights leader, and John Lewis led over 600 peaceful, orderly protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. They intended to march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate the need for voting rights in the state. The marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers in a brutal confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." News broadcasts and photographs revealing the senseless cruelty of the segregated South helped hasten the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. After leaving SNCC in 1966, he continued his commitment to the Civil Rights Movement as associate irector of the Field Foundation and his participation in the Southern Regional Council's voter registration programs. Lewis went on to become the director of the Voter Education Project (VEP). Under his leadership, the VEP transformed the nation's political climate by adding nearly four million minorities to the voter rolls.

In 1977, John Lewis was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to direct more than 250,000 volunteers of ACTION, the federal volunteer agency. In 1981, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. While serving on the Council, he was an advocate for ethics in government and neighborhood preservation. He was elected to Congress in November 1986 and has served as U.S. Representative of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District since then. That District includes the entire city of Atlanta, Georgia and parts of Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties. He is Senior Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Party in leadership in the House, a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, a member of its Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Oversight.

John Lewis holds a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Spelman College, Princeton University, University of New Hampshire, Johnson C. Smith University, Delaware State University Duke University, Morehouse College, Clark-Atlanta University, Howard University, Brandeis University, Columbia University, Fisk University, Williams College, Georgetown University, and Troy State University.

John Lewis is the recipient of numerous awards from eminent national and international institutions, including the Lincoln Medal from the historic Ford's Theatre, the Golden Plate Award given by the Academy of Excellence, the Preservation Hero award given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Capital Award of the National Council of La Raza,  the Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-Violent Peace Prize, the President's Medal of Georgetown University, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, the National Education Association Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Award, and the only John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for Lifetime Achievement ever granted by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The Timberland Company has developed the John Lewis Award, which honors the Congressman's commitment to humanitarian service by acknowledging members of society who perform outstanding humanitarian work.  The company also has established a John Lewis Scholarship Fund.

John Lewis authored his biography with writer Michael D'Orso, entitled Walking With The Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (June, 1998). In 2006, two other books were written about his life:  Freedom Riders:  John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement, by Ann Bausum  and John Lewis in the Lead, by Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson, with illustrations by famous Georgia artist, Bennie Andrews. John Lewis has also been featured in many books about the civil rights movement, including The Children by David Halberstam and the Taylor Branch series on the Movement. He has been interviewed for numerous documentaries, news broadcasts, and journals, including the Eyes on the Prize, The Today Show, CNN Headline News, CNN's American Morning, CSPAN's Washington Journal, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, The New Yorker, Parade Magazine, American Profile, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Tribune, Roll Call magazine, Congressional Quarterly and many more.

Commencement Exercises

Commencement exercises will be held on campus under the Commencement tent on Sunday, May 20, 2012.

10:30 AM     Procession begins
11:00 AM     Commencement Exercises
                      Reception immediately following commencement exercises

Please note: Guests are requested to refrain from bringing pets to commencement exercises.  

Prize Day

Prize Day will be held on Saturday, May 19, 2012. The ceremony will be begin at 11:00 AM in the Reading Room, William F. Starr Hall.

Photography

There will be professional photographers at the ceremony taking photographs of candidates. If you wish to receive a color proof, you must have filled out the address card that will be provided at the ceremony. Proofs will be mailed to the address you provide on the card. If a valid e-mail address is available to the photographer, a link to commencement photograph proofs will also be sent to participating graduates via e-mail.

Members of the audience using hand-held cameras may take photos during the ceremony from areas reserved for that purpose. In order to accommodate everyone, individuals are requested to move to those areas for only a short interval and then return to their seats.

Special Accommodations

If you require reasonable accommodations for a disability, please contact Jane Thierfeld Brown at (860) 570-5130 by April 27. Handicapped parking spaces are located in the William F. Starr Hall parking lot accessible via the Sherman Street entrance.

Commencement information for students.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Commencement Office.