Newark Mayor Cory Booker to deliver keynote address at Rutgers Business School Commencement May 21
May 8, 2009
Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker will deliver the keynote address at Rutgers Business School Commencement at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on May 21. Mayor Booker has not only worked to improve the City of Newark, but has also consistently worked with Rutgers Business School to help revitalize the areas around campus in hopes of creating a 24-hour college community.Since taking office in 2006, Booker’s vision has been to transform Newark into a leading city in safety, prosperity, and family life. Under his leadership, production of affordable accommodation has doubled, and through a $40 million public/private partnership initiative, Newark has made a commitment to revitalize its parks and playgrounds. As of July 1, 2008, Newark led the nation’s largest cities for reductions in shootings and murders, achieving decreases of more than 40% in both categories.Booker is a former Newark Councilman and community activist who has done numerous things to improve the City of Newark and beyond. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to Queens College in Oxford, England, and graduated from Yale Law School. He then started several free legal clinics for low-income residents of the neighboring city of New Haven, CT. After returning to his home state of New Jersey, he became Program Coordinator of the Newark (NJ) Youth Project. Later he started Newark Now, a nonprofit civic improvement group, became a partner in a West Orange, NJ law firm, and became a senior fellow at Rutgers University's Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
