Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s 6th District Congressman, will be the keynote speaker at the College of Charleston’s Nurturing Emerging Leaders: Pathways to College Access luncheon on March 24, 2011.  The event will benefit Upward Bound and Pre-College Programs at the College.

“The goal of Upward Bound and other pre-college programs is to expose middle and high school students to the college experience and to provide them with the tools and resources they need to excel in school,” says Leroy Lewis Jr. director of Upward Bound and Pre-College Programs at the College of Charleston. “We help these students academically, map out their career paths and generally try to break down the barrier that first-generation college students tend to have.”

The Nurturing Emerging Leaders initiative is a collaboration between the Pre-College Programs and the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance. Initiative activities will be designed to familiarize potential education majors and their guidance counselors with the College of Charleston’s academic programs and resources – including the Call Me MISTER and Teaching Fellows programs – so that there will be an increase in the number of underserved students who see teaching as a viable career option.

The luncheon will be held in the Stern Center Ballroom starting at 12:30 p.m. Tickets to the event are available to the public. Contact Leroy Lewis at 843.953.5249.

About Congressman Clyburn:

President Barack Obama has said he is, “One of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens.” As Assistant Democratic Leader in the 112th Congress – the number three Democrat in the House – James E. Clyburn will be the leadership liaison to the Appropriations Committee and one of the Democratic Caucus’ primary liaisons to the White House. Working with the internal caucuses, he’ll play a prominent role in messaging and outreach.

As the eldest son of an activist fundamentalist minister and an independent civic-minded beautician, Rep. Clyburn’s humble beginnings in Sumter, S. C., grounded him securely in family, faith and public service. He was elected president of his NAACP youth chapter when he was 12 years old, helped organize many civil rights marches and demonstrations as a student leader at South Carolina State College.

When Clyburn came to Congress in 1993, he was elected co-president of his freshman class and quickly rose through the leadership ranks. He was elected chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1999, and his reputation as a leader and consensus builder helped him win a difficult three-way race for House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair in 2002. Three years later, he was unanimously elected chair of the Democratic Caucus. When Democrats regained the House majority in 2006, Congressman Clyburn was elevated by his colleagues to House Majority Whip.

Jim and Emily Clyburn have three daughters: Mignon, Jennifer Reed and Angela Hannibal; two sons-in-law: Walter Reed and Cecil Hannibal; and two grandchildren: Walter A Clyburn Reed and Sydney Alexis Reed.