National Labor College Names Honorary Degree Recipients

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National Labor College will celebrate its commencement on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at the Maritime Institute of Graduate Studies (MITAGS). We are proud that four distinguished individuals will join us to receive honorary degrees. 

The honorees were chosen for their genuine achievement and distinction in their field or activity consonant with the mission of the College. Meet this year’s honorary degree recipients.

US Representative John Lewis is often called “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced.” Georgia congressman Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights and securing civil liberties. He is widely admired on both sides of the aisle because of his dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles.

Read his full biography

Kim Bobo is the Executive Director and founder of Interfaith Worker Justice, the nation’s largest network of people of faith engaging in local and national actions to improve wages, benefits and conditions for workers, especially those in the low-wage economy.  Since 1996 she has been helping build interfaith groups and workers centers around the nation.

Read her full biography

Karen Lewis was overwhelmingly re- elected president of the 30,000‐member Chicago Teachers Union this past May, after first being elected in June 2010. Ms. Lewis has been a member of CTU since 1988, and taught high school chemistry in the Chicago Public Schools for 22 years. She believes that students, parents, teachers, and community members are educators’ natural allies. 

Read her full biography

Mahlon Mitchell is State President of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and has been a fire fighter for more than 15 years. He was instrumental in helping pass two pieces of legislation that were a huge victory for fire fighters across Wisconsin. The Infectious Disease Presumption fought to make sure firefighters are covered if they contract a disease or disability on the job. The bill also that ensures families and spouses of fire fighters who die in the line of duty will have their health insurance premiums covered.

Read his full biography

Sheet Metal Workers Union Assistant to the General President Named NLC Alumni of the Year

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National Labor College’s Alumni Association has named Marc A. Norberg – who graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Labor Studies – Alumni of the Year. Marc is the Assistant to the General President of SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union).

Among his other duties, Marc coordinates the International’s interface with renewable energy sources, green energy and combined heat and power organizations. Formerly, he was the President and Business Manager of Sheet Metal Workers Local 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and also served as a Labor Trustee on the SMWIA National Pension Fund. Marc and his wife Linda have two sons, both SMWIA members and third generation journeymen sheet metal workers.

The alumni of the year was chosen based on involvement with the alumni association and dedication to promoting NLC.

NLC Professor Deborah Robinson Participates in the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit

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Dr. Deborah Robinson recently joined the faculty at National Labor College as the Director of the Emergency Readiness and Response Management degree program. She is an internationally recognized facilitator and senior program manager with more than 25 years of experience working with agencies, organizations, and movements in numerous countries, so when she was asked to be on a panel on “International Initiatives” at the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit on May 24, Dr. Robinson was eager to be involved.

Associate of Arts Degree Classes Getting Ready to Launch

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National Labor College is now accredited to offer an Associate of Arts (AA) degree. Courses in the fully online program will be offered for the first time in the fall semester that begins on September 3. Introductory courses — from writing to accounting to history and more — will be offered during each of our three annual semesters, which start in September, January, and May.

National Labor College Graduate Wins UALE Paper Award

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National Labor College (NLC) 2011 graduate Stephen Lockie (Labor Education and Labor Safety and Health) won the New Generation Award at the 2013 United Association for Labor Education (UALE) conference in Toronto, Canada in April 2013.

Lockie is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 570, Tucson, Arizona, and his paper was titled, “Organizing the Electrical Construction Industry of the 21st Century.”

“I was humbled to win the New Generation Award at the UALE conference in Toronto. All the entrants worked incredibly hard on their research projects and seeing two other NLC graduates presenting alongside me made me proud,” said Lockie.