FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2005
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124

Sen. Cochran to speak at MUW graduation

COLUMBUS, Miss. – The graduating class of Mississippi University for Women will hear from U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran at the 120th commencement on Saturday, May 14.

The congressman will speak at both services, which will be held in Rent Auditorium, Whitfield Hall.

Conferring of degrees for the Divisions of Business and Communication, Interdisciplinary Studies, Nursing and Science and Mathematics will be held at 11 a.m. The ceremony for the Divisions of Education and Human Sciences, Fine and Performing Arts, Health and Kinesiology and Humanities will take place at 3 p.m.

Sen. Cochran has served Mississippi and America in the U.S. Congress since 1972.

He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1974 and 1976 and then elected to the United States Senate in 1978, making him the first Republican in over 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi. He has been re-elected to the Senate four consecutive times.

Sen. Cochran has served as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

He currently serves as chairman of the full Appropriations Committee and as a member of the Agriculture and Rules Committees. His distinguished legislative record includes the sponsorship of the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, the Campaign Finance Reform Act and key provisions of several farm bills.

Sen. Cochran also has written legislation supporting education programs such as teacher training, vocational education, libraries and educational television. A strong proponent of education, he served as a member of the National Education Goals Panel, and numerous university projects have been funded with Senator Cochran’s assistance.

Through his assistance, MUW has received over $1.7 million in congressionally-directed grants for campus emergency equipment, Plymouth Bluff Center programming and the creation of the Southern Women’s Institute.

He authored the Mississippi Wilderness Act, which is the first federal legislation ever passed for the perpetual protection of lands in the State of Mississippi. He also helped establish national wildlife refuges as a member of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, and he authored the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program.

Sen. Cochran has helped develop, maintain and improve the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Natchez Historical Park, the Vicksburg National Military Park and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

As a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, he has worked successfully to support the Navy’s shipbuilding programs and the military bases and installations in Mississippi.

During previous Congresses, Senator Cochran served on the Senate Ethics Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Labor and Human Resources Committee, and the Committee on Indian Affairs. Service on these committees has enabled him to be actively involved in writing laws affecting a wide range of issues, including rural development, health care and criminal law.

Sen. Cochran has been awarded honorary degrees from Kentucky Wesleyan College, Mississippi College, Blue Mountain College and the University of Richmond. He is a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and the Board of the Museum of American History. He is also an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees.

He was born Dec. 7, 1937, in Pontotoc. Before being elected to public office, he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

He is a member of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson. He and his wife, the former Rose Clayton of New Albany, have two grown children and two grandsons.

MUW recently received approval from the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning to rename South Callaway Hall after Senator Cochran and his wife. Thad and Rose Cochran Hall is currently being renovated to house Student Services.