College of New Rochelle Academic Convocation

(New Rochelle - March 3rd) Senator Stewart-Cousins greeted legendary civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-Williams at The College of New Rochelle during an academic convocation for Women's History Month. College President Judith Huntington bestowed an honorary degree on Myrlie Evers-Williams, recognizing her as a human rights champion who has spent her lifetime working toward equality for all people. With her husband, the celebrated civil rights activist Medgar Evers, she witnessed the struggles of impoverished and oppressed African-American communities in Mississippi before the civil rights movement, and together, they opened the first NAACP office in that state to fight for equality and voting rights. Following her husband's assassination in 1963, Myrlie continued the fight. In 1995, she became Chairperson of the Nat'l Board of Directors of the NAACP and in 1998 founded the Medgar Evers Institute - now the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institutue. The Institutute's mission statement is to "develop new generations of socially and politically activated people by transferring knowledge, sharing wisdom, and nurturing civic engagement." A mission Senator Stewart-Cousins believes we should all strive to achieve.