RETIRED CONGRESSWOMAN TO SPEAK AT B-CC CONVOCATION FOLLOWED BY STATUE GROUNDBREAKING

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Retired United States Representative Carrie Meek (D-Fla), a former Bethune-Cookman College faculty member and women’s basketball coach, will deliver the keynote address at the College’s Founder’s Day Convocation, Wednesday, October 1 at 10:30 a.m. in the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center.

Retired United States Representative Carrie Meek

Elected in 1979, Meek was the first African American female to serve in the Florida State Legislature. She was later elected to the Florida Senate. Her 1992 election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida’s 17^th congressional district made her the first African American to represent the state of Florida in Congress since Reconstruction.

Meek was a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee in addition to serving on numerous subcommittees. She retired from public service in 2002.

She graduated from Florida A&M University in 1946 and received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan.

In her early career, Meek was a professor at Bethune-Cookman College and Florida A&M. She moved to Miami in 1961 to serve as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Miami-Dade Community College. The school was desegregated in 1963 and Meek played a pivotal role in pushing for integration. Throughout her years as an educator Meek was also active in community projects in the Miami area.

Bethune-Cookman College will honor Meek by presenting her with an honorary Doctorate degree as part of the dedication ceremony for the Performing Arts Center, which opened September 3.

Following the Convocation, groundbreaking ceremonies for the Mary McLeod Bethune bronze statue will take place. Crafted by noted sculptor John Labja, whose works include the Dale Earnhardt and Bill and Anne France statues outside Daytona International Speedway, the twelve-foot likeness of Bethune-Cookman College’s founder will be located on the east side of the Performing Arts Center on International Speedway Boulevard.

The statue and its surrounding gardens will be unveiled next year on October 2, 2004 in an event that will kick off the College’s Centennial celebration. The year-long jubilee will feature events nationwide.

Funding for the statue has been raised by the Bethune Visionary Committee, headed by Janice Walton and Richard Black.

Those wishing to make a contribution to the statue project may do so by sending their donation to The Bethune Visionary Committee, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard,  Box 133, Daytona Beach, FL, 32114. For further information on the statue, call (386) 481-2484.

The public is invited to attend both events.

Bethune-Cookman is a comprehensive college, which offers degrees in liberal arts as well as professional fields, such as business, education and nursing. A United Methodist Church-affiliated school, the college has a diverse and international student population of more than 2,500 and a solid reputation for academic excellence. As evidence of its outstanding program, the College has been listed in the Templeton Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges and Universities, and it was ranked by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 50” schools in the nation for black students.

For more information, contact our website www.bethune.cookman.edu. 

-30-
back