Nationally Renowned Senator, Ambassador, and Author Carol Moseley Braun to Speak at Pitt April 16

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh's Black Action Society (BAS) will host international dignitary Carol Moseley Braun at 8:45 p.m. April 16 in the auditorium of Benedum Hall, 3700 O'Hara St., Oakland. Moseley Braun will deliver a lecture on the importance of Black student organizations and the necessity for all students to be involved in an ever-changing political world. This lecture commemorates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Black Action Society at Pitt.

To date, Moseley Braun has been the only African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, representing Illinois from 1993 to 1999. She also has served as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand under the appointment of President Bill Clinton, and in 2004 she sought the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

Born in Chicago, Ill., in 1947, Moseley Braun graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1969 and earned a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Chicago in 1972.

As a lawyer, Moseley Braun was a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago from 1973 to 1977. In 1978, she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. While in Congress, she sponsored numerous bills to reform the state's education system, including the 1985 Urban School Improvement Act, which created parents' councils at every school in Chicago.

After two terms in the House of Representatives, Moseley Braun became the first woman in Illinois' history to be selected Assistant Majority Leader. After serving as the Recorder of Deeds for Cook County, Illinois, she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992.

BAS, a student-run organization at the University of Pittsburgh, works to bring about social awareness amongst African American students, faculty, and staff at Pitt.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Larry Miller at 412-648-7880 or programming.bas@gmail.com.

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