Civil Rights Pioneer To Address 2005 Undergrads
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth to speak; approximately 650 undergraduate degrees will be conferred
BUFFALO, NY – Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth will address the Canisius College Class of 2005 during undergraduate commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 21 at 11:00 a.m. in Alumni Arena at the State University of New York at Buffalo (Amherst campus). Approximately 650 undergraduate degrees will be conferred at this time. Shuttlesworth will be presented with an honorary degree during commencement ceremonies, as will Robert M. Greene ’66 and Paul J. Koessler.
A renowned civil rights pioneer, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth’s advocacy for racial justice prompted Martin Luther King Jr. to name him the “most courageous civil rights fighter in the South.” Born and raised in Birmingham, AL, Shuttlesworth challenged the segregation laws of the South nearly a decade before King brought international attention to the Civil Rights Movement. He worked with civic leaders to obtain jobs for African Americans as United States Post Office clerks. He encouraged the boycotts of downtown businesses that refused to hire African Americans or forced them to sit at segregated lunch counters. He organized the Alabama Christian Movement for Civil Rights, when Alabama banned the NAACP in 1956.
Shuttlesworth’s activities led him to jail 25 times and made him a popular target of white racists. He barely escaped with his life on Christmas night 1956, when 16 sticks of dynamite exploded in his home, while he slept. The following year, an angry mob beat Shuttlesworth with chains, baseball bats and brass knuckles, and stabbed his wife, as he tried to enroll his two daughters in an all-white school in Birmingham. A few years later, Shuttlesworth was hospitalized following a face-off with police commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor, during which firefighters used a 75-mile-per-hour stream of water from a fire hose to pin him against a wall.
Historians wrote that were it not for Shuttlesworth, the Birmingham movement might not have occurred and without Birmingham, they concluded, there would not have been a Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Voting Rights Act of 1965. Shuttlesworth’s story is documented widely and includes a biography, entitled A Fire You Can’t Put Out.
Today, Shuttlesworth is pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church in Ohio and founder of the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation, which helps low-income families buy homes.
Robert M. Greene is a 1966 alumnus of Canisius College and partner in the law firm of Philips Lytle LLP, where he concentrates his practice in health care, non-profit and charitable organizations, election, campaign and political law, and investments. His areas of concentration are a reflection of the time he devotes to his community. Greene has served on the boards of more than 20 civic and charitable organizations including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Buffalo Zoo, Shea’s Buffalo and Western New York Public Broadcasting. Most recently, Greene’s commitment to service and the betterment of the human condition have taken him to Haiti as a volunteer with the Global Healthy Ministry.
He is also a devout volunteer for alma mater. Greene served three separate terms on the Canisius College Board of Trustees; the last five as chair. He also served as president of the college’s alumni association and chair of the annual fund. Additionally, Greene has counseled numerous Canisius students interested in pursuing a career in law.
Paul J. Koessler, former president of Greater Buffalo Press, is one of the area’s most renowned community leaders. He is president of the Paul J. Koessler Foundation, an independent foundation established to provide funding for education, hospitals, human services, the performing arts, Roman Catholic agencies and churches, and youth development.
Koessler also serves on the boards of numerous community and cultural organizations including the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, the Roswell Park Alliance, the Sisters Hospital Foundation and the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation. In the cultural arena, Koessler is a board member for the Albright Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, the Darwin Martin House Restoration Corporation and Western New York Public Broadcasting. In 2000, New York Governor George Pataki appointed Koessler to the Peace Bridge Authority, to lead the effort to build a community consensus on a new bridge. He was later elected chairman of the authority.
Koessler’s years of community service have resulted in him receiving several community awards, among them the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation’s Renaissance Man of the Year Award, and the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Burt P. Flickinger Jr. Leadership Award.
At Canisius College, Koessler served six years on the college’s Board of Trustees, during which time he was an active volunteer with the executive committee for the Imagine Canisius capital campaign and chair of the college’s 2001-2003 annual fund. Most recently, the Canisius College Board of Regents recognized Koessler with its Distinguished Citizen Achievement Award.
Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
Shuttlesworth’s activities led him to jail 25 times and made him a popular target of white racists. He barely escaped with his life on Christmas night 1956, when 16 sticks of dynamite exploded in his home, while he slept. The following year, an angry mob beat Shuttlesworth with chains, baseball bats and brass knuckles, and stabbed his wife, as he tried to enroll his two daughters in an all-white school in Birmingham. A few years later, Shuttlesworth was hospitalized following a face-off with police commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor, during which firefighters used a 75-mile-per-hour stream of water from a fire hose to pin him against a wall.
Historians wrote that were it not for Shuttlesworth, the Birmingham movement might not have occurred and without Birmingham, they concluded, there would not have been a Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Voting Rights Act of 1965. Shuttlesworth’s story is documented widely and includes a biography, entitled A Fire You Can’t Put Out.
Today, Shuttlesworth is pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church in Ohio and founder of the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation, which helps low-income families buy homes.
Robert M. Greene is a 1966 alumnus of Canisius College and partner in the law firm of Philips Lytle LLP, where he concentrates his practice in health care, non-profit and charitable organizations, election, campaign and political law, and investments. His areas of concentration are a reflection of the time he devotes to his community. Greene has served on the boards of more than 20 civic and charitable organizations including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Buffalo Zoo, Shea’s Buffalo and Western New York Public Broadcasting. Most recently, Greene’s commitment to service and the betterment of the human condition have taken him to Haiti as a volunteer with the Global Healthy Ministry.
He is also a devout volunteer for alma mater. Greene served three separate terms on the Canisius College Board of Trustees; the last five as chair. He also served as president of the college’s alumni association and chair of the annual fund. Additionally, Greene has counseled numerous Canisius students interested in pursuing a career in law.
Paul J. Koessler, former president of Greater Buffalo Press, is one of the area’s most renowned community leaders. He is president of the Paul J. Koessler Foundation, an independent foundation established to provide funding for education, hospitals, human services, the performing arts, Roman Catholic agencies and churches, and youth development.
Koessler also serves on the boards of numerous community and cultural organizations including the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, the Roswell Park Alliance, the Sisters Hospital Foundation and the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation. In the cultural arena, Koessler is a board member for the Albright Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, the Darwin Martin House Restoration Corporation and Western New York Public Broadcasting. In 2000, New York Governor George Pataki appointed Koessler to the Peace Bridge Authority, to lead the effort to build a community consensus on a new bridge. He was later elected chairman of the authority.
Koessler’s years of community service have resulted in him receiving several community awards, among them the Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation’s Renaissance Man of the Year Award, and the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Burt P. Flickinger Jr. Leadership Award.
At Canisius College, Koessler served six years on the college’s Board of Trustees, during which time he was an active volunteer with the executive committee for the Imagine Canisius capital campaign and chair of the college’s 2001-2003 annual fund. Most recently, the Canisius College Board of Regents recognized Koessler with its Distinguished Citizen Achievement Award.
Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
Date released: 4/21/2005
