Cornell William Brooks (STH '87) Chosen as 2015 Baccalaureate Speaker
Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is delighted to welcome Cornell William Brooks (STH ’87) to give the Baccalaureate speech during Boston University’s 2015 Commencement celebration. Brooks will also receive an honorary Doctor of Law from Boston University.
Brooks is President and CEO of the NAACP and an ordained minister, lawyer, and human rights activist. He received his Master of Divinity from BUSTH, with a concentration in social ethics and systematic theology, followed by a doctoral degree from Yale Law School. At BUSTH, he was awarded the Oxnam-Leibman Fellowship for outstanding scholarship and promoting racial harmony, and the Jefferson Fellowship for outstanding scholarship and excellence in preaching.
Also a graduate of Head Start, he has called himself “a grandson, heir, and beneficiary” of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. Brooks served as senior counsel with the Federal Communications Commission and a trial attorney with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He was elected the eighteenth leader of the NAACP in 2014 after serving as executive director of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
In his work for social justice, Brooks has tirelessly advocated for incarcerated men and women, for juveniles facing detention, and for workforce training for low-income residents. He has worked for legislation that aids formerly incarcerated men and women in rebuilding their lives, and successfully advocated for state legislation to reduce the effects of foreclosure. In 2014, he and the NAACP led a weeklong march from Ferguson, Missouri to Jefferson City, in response to the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown.
Last November, Brooks returned to BUSTH as a guest speaker for the Lowell Lecture at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. Brooks spoke on the theme of Transformational Leadership, telling the audience, “It’s not enough to say what we believe. We have to put our bodies where our beliefs are. Moving your lips when you’re tempted to keep them closed can be an act of physical courage. Standing up when you would rather sit down can be an act of physical courage.”
He also spoke of the “incredible legacy” of BUSTH, naming Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Boston Personalists as “the prophetic tradition that you’re called to serve and represent.”
Brooks will speak at the Baccalaureate Service, held on May 17 at 11:00am at Marsh Chapel (735 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215). All graduates and their families are welcome.