Andrew Young to Speak at CSUN

Civil rights leader Andrew Young, who last month urged Cal State Northridge students to see the earthquake “not as something to be spurned, but as an opportunity,” has accepted an invitation to deliver the honors convocation address at the university in early June.

The former mayor of Atlanta and U. S. ambassador to the United Nations is vice chairman of Law Companies Group Inc., an engineering and environmental services firm working on the CSUN campus.

Administrators have asked Young, who also served three terms in Congress and was a top aide to Martin Luther King Jr., to speak about the importance of the human spirit in overcoming adversity.

“In life you have to deal with the imperfect,” said Bruce Erickson, a CSUN spokesman. “He was beat up, he was jailed. . . . He said those experiences prepared him for his position as ambassador and mayor.”

The annual honors convocation recognizes students for their academic achievements and outstanding contributions to the university. The ceremony, for about 1,000 students and their guests, will be open to the public. It will take place at the University Club on June 5, kicking off three days of commencement activities.

For the estimated 7,000 CSUN seniors who will graduate less than six months after their campus suffered what is believed to be the costliest natural disaster ever at a U. S. university, the ceremonies are likely to be unforgettable.

“It’s not your normal commencement,” said Kaine Thompson, a spokeswoman for the university. “It’s like we all came through this together and survived.”