at Stetson Graduation
Max
Cleland to Speak at Stetson Graduation Former U.S. Senator Max Cleland
will deliver the commencement address to more than 220 Stetson University
College of Law graduates in ceremonies on the Gulfport campus on
Saturday, May 10. Graduation will begin at 9 a.m. in the courtyard
at 1401 61 Street S. Cleland is a disabled U.S. Army Vietnam War
veteran who was awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for
valorous action in combat. As the youngest member of the Georgia
Senate at the age of 28, he wrote the state law making public facilities
in the state accessible to the elderly and to the handicapped. In
1975, Cleland was hired to work for the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to head the U.S.
Veterans Administration two years later. As the youngest ever VA
administrator and the first Vietnam veteran to head the agency,
Cleland instituted the Vet Center program which, for the first time,
offered psychological counseling to combat veterans to heal the
emotional wounds of war. There are now more than 200 Vet Centers
across the country offering support to combat and non-combat veterans
and their families. Cleland returned to the Senate in 1997 and served
until 2003. Cleland earned his bachelor’s degree from Stetson University
in DeLand and his master’s degree from Emory University. He is the
author of “Strong at the Broken Places” and “Going for the Max!:
12 Principles for Living Life to the Fullest”. Thirty-two students
from the fulltime and part-time law classes have earned both an
M.B.A. and a J.D. degree. Twenty-three parttime students have earned
a J.D. degree and 11 students have earned masters of laws degrees.
Among this year’s outstanding Stetson law graduates are: Clara Rodriguez
Rokusek, recognized for leadership accomplishments by the National
Hispanic Bar Association. Jason Stearns, former military serviceman
and second ranked oralist in the world at the 2006 Willem C. Vis
International Moot in Vienna, Austria. |
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