NCCU snares Marc Morial for commencement

Marc H. Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans and current president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, will be the featured speaker at N.C. Central University's spring commencement.

Commencement will be Saturday, May 16 at 8 a.m. at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium on the NCCU campus.

Morial has headed the National Urban League since 2003. He is considered one of the nation's experts on a wide range of issues related to cities and their residents, according to an NCCCU press release.

He has been recognized by the Non‐Profit Times as one of America's top 50 non‐profit executives and has been named by Ebony magazine as one of the 100 "Most Influential Blacks in America."
 
Upon his appointment to the League, Morial established an ambitious five‐point empowerment agenda encompassing Education & Youth, Economic Empowerment, Health & Quality of Life, Civic Engagement, and Civil Rights & Racial Justice that informs the League's programs, research and advocacy efforts. He created the new quantitative "Equality Index" to effectively measure the disparities in urban communities across these five areas. The index is now a permanent part of the League's annual and much‐heralded The State of Black America report.
 
Prior to joining National Urban League, Morial served two  four‐year terms (1994‐2002) as Mayor of New Orleans. Before becoming mayor, he also served as a Louisiana State Senator for two years.