BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE ANNOUNCES HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS
May 11, 2000, Bloomfield, NJ -- Bloomfield College is pleased to announce that at its 127th Commencement Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on May 25, the independent, four-year liberal arts institution will award an honorary doctorate degrees to Dr. Cornel West, acclaimed author and the Alphonse Fletcher Jr., University Professor at Harvard University; and the Honorable Faith S. Hochberg, U.S. District Court Judge from New Jersey and prosecutor in the “Unabomber” case.
Dr. Cornel West has been widely hailed as the “pre-eminent
African-American intellectual of our time” and America’s “most eloquent
public intellectual.” His breakthrough book, Race Matters, was
published by Beacon Press in spring of 1993. The book quickly achieved
best-seller status and gained the attention of Time Magazine and Newsweek,
prompting both publications to run extensive profile articles about West in
June, 1993.
His other book credits include Keeping the Faith, Jews and Blacks; Let the Healing Begin, and The Cornel West Reader.
West graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, in only three years. Martin Kilson, one of West’s professors, recalls him as “the most intellectually aggressive and highly cerebral student I have taught in my 30 years here.”
West continued his education at Princeton University, where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. He then went on to head the Department of Afro-American Studies at Princeton University. After leading the department to new heights, he moved to Harvard University, where he serves as Professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy of Religion.
In addition to his activities at Harvard, West accepts numerous speaking engagements at colleges, universities, religious and civic organizations. He has been guest lecturer and visiting scholar at many campuses. Recently, he was the W.E.B. Du Bois Lecturer at Harvard. His speaking style, formed by the roots in the Baptist Church, blends drama, knowledge and inspiration.
His current academic interests include problems facing the urban African-American community and in creating and maintaining an ongoing dialogue between Blacks and Jews.
The Honorable Faith S. Hochberg was nominated and confirmed as New
Jersey’s first female United States Attorney in 1994. She quickly
established her reputation by prosecuting a number of headline-making cases,
including a 1995 shooting at a Montclair post office that left two employees
dead. Hochberg was also a central figure in the negotiations surrounding the
prosecution of Theodore Kaczynski, the admitted “Unabomber.” Her five and
one half years of service as New Jersey United States Attorney is the longest
on record.
Last November, Hochberg was appointed United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey.
In Washington, D.C. she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury for Law Enforcement. There, she oversaw the operations of the Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Customs Service.
Judge Hochberg earned a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, summa cum laude, before completing her law degree at Harvard Law School, magna cum laude. Her academic excellence earned her the appointment as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
In 1996, Judge Hochberg was honored by New Jersey Monthly Magazine as “one of the 50 most interesting people in New Jersey.”
Bloomfield College is an independent, four-year, co-educational institution offering 2,000 full- and part-time students programs in the liberal arts and pre-professional studies. The College has earned a national reputation for its innovative academic and co-curricular programs and for its mission - to prepare students to attain academic, personal and professional excellence in a multicultural and global society.
