Sen. Cleo Fields to serve as spring commencement speaker
GRAMBLING, La. — No stranger to Grambling State University, Louisiana State Senator Cleo Fields will serve as keynote speaker for GSU’s Spring 2024 Commencement Exercises to be held at 10 a.m. May 10 inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
GSU officials expect to confer diplomas to graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Professional Studies, and Graduate Studies
A 1980 graduate of McKinley High School and a 1984 graduate of Southern University in the field of Mass Communications, Fields in 1987 was presented his law degree from Southern University School Law Center.
Upon completion of law school, Fields was elected to the Louisiana State Senate at the age of 24, becoming the youngest person ever elected to the State Senate in Louisiana’s history and at that time, the youngest in the nation.
In 1992, Fields was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as Congressman of Louisiana’s 4th Congressional district. At the age of 30, Fields held the position of being the youngest member to serve in the 103rd congress. In 1993, he created a Congressional Classroom for elementary through secondary school-age students.
Noted for being the first of its kind in the country, the Congressional Classroom helped students develop leadership and self-esteem while understanding the governmental process. It is known today as the Louisiana Leadership Institute.
Fields ran for Governor of Louisiana in 1995, leaving a historical mark by becoming the first African American democratic nominee. He then went on to complete two terms as Congressman.
On December 13, 1997, Fields was elected to the 14th Senatorial District of Louisiana and completed his term as State Senator in 2007.
Fields was re-elected to serve the 14th Senatorial District of Louisiana on Oct. 12, 2019, returning him to the Senate for the third time. He currently serves as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Education.
He is a longtime member of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. He is married to his wife, Debra and they have two adult sons, Brandon and Christopher.
More information about Spring 2024 Commencement can be found at gram.edu/graduation.