Activist, alum to address 2009 grads
Activist Eugene “Gus” Newport, the former mayor of Berkeley, Calif., and an alumnus from the class of 1958, will give the keynote address at commencement on May 9.
Newport is described as an activist, a mover and a shaker and someone who leads change rather than adapting to it. He has worked in the.gif)
areas of neighborhood and community planning, economic development and public policy, and at the national, state and local levels and for nonprofit agencies and the private sector.
areas of neighborhood and community planning, economic development and public policy, and at the national, state and local levels and for nonprofit agencies and the private sector.He is a senior associate at the Urban Strategies Council in Oakland. He is also a senior consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Technical Assistance Resource Center. Utilizing his community planning expertise, Newport formerly served as executive director of the Partnership for Neighborhood Initiative in Palm Beach County, Fla., and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston.
Newport attended Heidelberg for four semesters between 1954 and 1957. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Sierra College in Santa Monica, Calif., a master’s degree from Goddard College, and is a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.
Additionally, he has taught at several institutions of higher education, including the University of California at Santa Cruz and Portland State University. He was also a member of the Yale Community Fellows program faculty, and has lectured at numerous universities and has served on several national policy boards and United Nations committees.
At the commencement ceremony, Newport will be receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Also receiving an honorary doctorate, the Doctor of Divinity degree, will be baccalaureate speaker Rev. Robert Molsberry, Ohio.gif)
Conference Minister of the United Church of Christ. Molsberry describes himself as “a pastor, a writer, a strategist and a scholar, a theologian, a father and husband, an athlete and adventurer, and a person with a disability.”
Conference Minister of the United Church of Christ. Molsberry describes himself as “a pastor, a writer, a strategist and a scholar, a theologian, a father and husband, an athlete and adventurer, and a person with a disability.”Following Peace Corps volunteer work after college, Molsberry attended Yale Divinity School, receiving his master’s degree. He served as pastor of parishes in Illinois and his native Iowa before completing a service mission in Nicaragua. He returned to serve Iowa to serve as senior pastor of his home church, UCC-Congregational in Grinnell, Iowa, for 10 years, before becoming director of administration for Eden Theological Seminary. He accepted the appointment as Ohio conference minister of the UCC in October 2007.
In addition to his ministry, Molsberry, who was left paraplegic after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, has written two books about adjustment to disability, “Tour de Faith: A Cyclist’s Lessons for Living” and “Blindsided by Grace: Entering the World of Disability.” He also writes on the topics of Nicaraguan culture, theology, ecclesiology and politics.
Both commencement and baccalaureate ceremonies will be held in Seiberling Gymnasium. Tickets are required for the commencement ceremony.
For additional information about commencement, visit http://www.heidelberg.edu/commencement.
Posted on April 1, 2009