By BlackNews.com
New York — Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, president of SUNY College at Old Westbury, recently received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Morehouse College during a celebratory reception hosted by SUNY College at Old Westbury and the Morehouse Manhattan Alumni Association. Dr. Robert M. Franklin, president of Morehouse College, presented Butts with the prestigious degree among a host of colleagues, political associates and friends including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Congressman Charles Rangel, Oscar Winner Maryann DeLeo and others.
Butts was awarded this prestigious degree for his unyielding commitment to educational justice and economic empowerment within academia and the global community. As president of SUNY College at Old Westbury, Butts has garnered recognition for preparing Old Westbury students to succeed in the global marketplace, earning accreditation from National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and securing funding to continue to expand its campus.
Noted as one of the most diverse public college campuses in America, SUNY College at Old Westbury is located in Nassau County and has more than 4,300 students with an emphasis on liberal arts and professional fields. In addition to his 12 years of leadership at Old Westbury, Butts is the pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, and sits on the boards of Abyssinian Development Corporation, Youth On The Move, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, the American Red Cross of Greater New York, and the Levin Institute.
Joining Butts in celebration was the program’s master of ceremonies, Garrick Utley, who is president of the Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce; Manhattan Morehouse Alumni Association President Davon Snipes, and SUNY Board of Trustees member Geri Warren-Merrick. The private reception was held March 2 at The SUNY Global Center, 116 East 55th St. from 7 to 9 p.m.
Located on the historic North Shore of New York’s Long Island, the State University of New York College at Old Westbury is a small public college that seeks to teach its students to lead at work, in the community and in life.
In an environment that demands academic excellence and offers close interaction among students and faculty, Old Westbury offers baccalaureate degrees in more than 40 majors through three academic schools — Arts and Sciences, Business and Education, including degrees that have earned accreditation from the prestigious National Council on the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
On the graduate level, Old Westbury offers 15 graduate degree programs in accounting, adolescence education, mental health counseling and taxation.
U.S. News and World Report named the institution, in 2010, the most diverse student body among liberal arts colleges in America.
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