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Johnny DuPree
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(JACKSON, Miss.) - Jackson State University officials announced today that Randall Pinkston, a CBS national correspondent, and Johnny DuPree, the mayor of Hattiesburg, Miss., will be the speakers for the 2009 commencement exercises scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, 2009.
DuPree will be the speaker for the graduate ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, May 8, at the Lee E. Williams Athletic & Assembly Center on campus.
Pinkston will speak during the undergraduate ceremony scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held at the Lee E. Williams Athletic & Assembly Center. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis with overflow in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium and the Jackson State Student Center ballrooms and theater.
More than 1,200 students are degree candidates at the 132-year-old historically black institution. Of those, more than 300 will receive advanced degrees.
As a correspondent for CBS Evening News since 1994, Pinkston has covered many major stories of the past decade, including Baghdad on the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. He also reported on the war in Afghanistan from the front lines in Tora Bora and Jalalabad; the devastating earthquake in Turkey; the U.S. intervention in Haiti; the Susan Smith trial, during which he broke the story of her arrest and landed the first interview with her ex-husband, David Smith.
The Yazoo County, Miss., native is the recipient of three national Emmy Awards and two for local news coverage. In 1996, he received an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for the documentary, CBS REPORTS: Legacy of Shame. Pinkston also won Emmy Awards for coverage of the death of Princess Diana in 1998 and the TWA Flight 800 disaster in 1997.
Pinkston began his career in Jackson, Miss., as an anchor/reporter at WLBT TV (1971-74) and an announcer at WJDX FM Radio (1969-71).
Pinkston graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and from the University of Connecticut Law School in 1980 with a J.D. degree. Pinkston and his wife, Patricia McLain, live in Bergen County, N.J.
Dupree, a Hattiesburg native, began his civic involvement in 1987 when he was appointed to the Hattiesburg School Board and served until 1992. Before being elected mayor, he was elected three times to the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, District Four, serving from 1992 to 2001.
In July 2001, DuPree, a Democrat, became the first African-American mayor for the City of Hattiesburg, unseating a three-term incumbent.
During his time as mayor, DuPree has received state and national recognition for two programs started under his administration, including the Early Warning Weather Alert Program, which places weather radios into the homes of low-income, elderly and disabled citizens; and the Mayor's Financial Education Initiative, whose partners provide free tax preparation and financial education to people in the Hattiesburg area.
Also, the Council of Neighborhoods, another DuPree initiative, was recognized with a second place national award for Cultural Diversity from the National League of Cities. The council - made up of representatives from the city's nearly 40 organized neighborhood associations - meets quarterly to receive city updates and exchange ideas about neighborhood improvement.
DuPree has a doctorate in urban studies from Jackson State University. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in political science from the University of Southern Mississippi.
To view a complete 2009 Spring Commencement calendar of event, visit CALENDAR
Photos:
Johnny DuPree: DuPree photo
Randall Pinkston: Pinkston photo
