Contact:
LaChauna Sumpter
Development and Public Relations
919-546-8269
lsumpter@shawu.edu

 
For Immediate Release

U.S. Congressman Elijah E. Cummings to Speak at Shaw University’s Commencement Ceremony
Raleigh, NC – (May 5, 2004) – Shaw University will hold its Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 8th at 11:00 a.m. in the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center. U.S. Congressman Elijah E. Cummings will deliver the commencement address. Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Cummings is representing Maryland’s 7th District for his fifth term in the House of Representatives. He is a standing member on the House Government Reform Committee, the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee, and he is a member of the Wellness and Human Rights Subcommittee. He is the co-chairman of the House AIDS Working Group, and is a member of the House Task Force on Health Care Reform.

Representative Cummings leads civically by serving on several Maryland boards and commissions, including the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the Baltimore Zoo Board of Trustees, the Baltimore Aquarium Board of Trustees, the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors, and the Dunbar-Hopkins Health Partnership Executive Board.

During his 16-year tenure in the Maryland House of Delegates, Cummings was the first African-American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tem, the second highest-ranking position in the House of Delegates. 

Congressman Cummings graduated Phi Beta Kappa having earned the Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Howard University in Washington, DC. He received his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. Before he entered Congress he practiced law for 19 years. He resides in the Madison Park Community in Baltimore City.

Shaw University, founded in 1865, is the oldest historically Black institution in the South. Since 2003, the University has been under the leadership of Dr. Clarence G. Newsome. President Newsome’s leadership pursues the theme: “Strides to Excellence: Only the Best!”