By Howard Koplowitz
Dr. Carolyn Goodman, mother of CUNY alumni and '60s murdered civil rights activist Andrew Goodman, received the President's Medal along with journalist Jerry Mitchell, who wrote her son's story.The tale has become immortalized as one of America's biggest civil rights dramas. Mrs. Goodman's son left Queens College for Mississippi to help register black voters in 1964. He was accompanied by fellow activists James Chaney and Michael Schwerner. The three of them were killed by the Mississippi Ku Klux Klan.”Their deaths cannot be forgotten as these honorable men represent what is best in all of us: the desire for a world in which all are equal,” said Queens College President James Muyskens before Mitchell took the stage.Mitchell, a reporter for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., broke the stories about the unpunished crimes against Goodman and his friends. His reports also helped bring about justice for the June 12, 1963 KKK assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, and the 1963 firebombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Ala. that killed four young girls.While relating his story to the crowd of 3,500 graduates, Mitchell recalled that even in recent history, his work continues to rouse old-time Southern ire. Most recently, his reporting led to the arrest of Andrew Goodman's killer, KKK member, Edgar Ray Killen, a former Ku Klux Klan member, who was charged with murdering Andrew Goodman. His was scheduled to go on trial Monday in Mississippi.”Even the other day, someone wrote to our paper saying I should be tarred and feathered and run out of Mississippi,” Mitchell said. “It's always nice to know there's someone to help you pack. But the truth is, thousands of college students just like you went South to make a difference. They did and you can, too.”Goodman also encouraged the diverse group of Queens graduates to make a difference and said she hoped to pass her son's legacy of equality among races down to future generations.”The future is in your hands,” she said. “The struggle continues and you are at its heart.”And at the end of the emotional ceremony, students said the words of the civil rights torch bearers struck them with hope and excitement in what are normally long and boring graduation ceremonies.”Her speech was uplifting,” said Debbie Giannatsis, a master's in education graduate. “She gave us hope for our future endeavors.”Reach reporter Scott Sieber by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
