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Nov. 20, 2002

NC State to Honor Rep. Eva Clayton at Brotherhood Dinner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

North Carolina State University will honor Rep. Eva M. Clayton (D-N.C.) at the 20th annual University-Community Brotherhood Dinner on Friday, Dec. 6 at the McKimmon Center.

Clayton, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from North Carolina, is retiring after 10 years of service as representative of the 1st Congressional District. She was a member of the House Budget Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, and the ranking Democrat on department operations, oversight, nutrition and forestry subcommittees. She helped secure billions of dollars to rebuild eastern North Carolina after Hurricane Floyd, and has received numerous awards for the legislation she introduced.

Clayton is a native of Savannah, Ga., who attended Johnson C. Smith University and N.C. Central University. Before being elected to Congress for the first time in 1992, Clayton served as a member of the Warren County Board of Commissioners, including a stint as chairperson from 1982 to 1990.

Clayton will give a presentation, entitled "The Need and Joy of Public Service," to the campus community at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 in the Witherspoon Multipurpose Room, prior to the evening's Brotherhood Dinner.

Hosted by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, the Brotherhood Dinner honors an African-American who has made a significant contribution as a scholar and humanitarian. Six outstanding African-American students representing St. Augustine's College, Shaw University and NC State also will be honored during the dinner. Attendance is by invitation only.

The Brotherhood Dinner was established in 1982 to recognize important contributions that African-Americans have made and continue to make to the nation and the world, and to reaffirm the university and community's commitment to enhancing an environment where people of different races may come to study and work together.
Previous honorees include astronaut Col. Guion S. Bluford, Jr., artist/educator Dr. Margaret Burroughs, historian John Hope Franklin, and educator and civil rights pioneer Robert Moses.

Students being recognized at this year's dinner are:

NC State: Natalie Michele Scurry of Frederick, Md., a junior majoring in chemical engineering; and Wilson Lamark White of Andrews, S.C., a senior majoring in computer and electrical engineering.

Saint Augustine's College: Tanikka Lynn Dennison of Lancaster, Pa., a junior majoring in business administration; and Keith Eric Stevens II of Union City, Calif., a senior majoring in political science.

Shaw University: Akisha Tumarra Bailey of Cleveland, Ohio, a junior majoring in computer science; and Brian Marlin Vinson of Savannah, Ga., a senior majoring in computer science.

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