37 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES Ronald D. Herndon RONALD D. HERNDON a veteran Portland civil rights leader, was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, and moved from East Harlem to Portland in 1968 to attend Reed College. At Reed, he earned a B.A. in history in 1970 where he convinced the college to start a Black Studies program. His thesis was titled “Racism in the Portland Public Schools.” The same year he graduated, Herndon opened the Black Educational Center Portland which offered educational opportunities for Black children in Portland. There, he served as director from 1970 to 1980. His leadership of that organization led to him becoming co-chair of the Portland chapter of the National Black United Front, which he co-founded in 1978, largely in response to the Portland Public School board's failure to implement recommendations by the Community Coalition for School Integration. Herndon is currently the director of Albina Head Start, he has held that position since 1975, and was the chairman of the National Head Start Association from 1993 to 2013. From 1988 to 2000 he served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Schools of Excellence. Herndon is in his fifth decade fighting for racial and social justice both locally and nationally. Among his many accomplishments is the time he spent in the 1980s and 1990s battling federal plans to end the Head Start program nationally. Locally, he organized a boycott by 4,000 Black students in 1982 to keep Harriet Tubman Middle School open, led a march in support of Nelson Mandela in 1984, and publicly pressured Nike to open a store in Northeast Portland and commit to hiring from the neighborhood. As part of the deal, Nike underwrote a communitydevelopment organization that built or rehabbed more than 200 houses. He is the co-founder of 18 Portland communitybased organizations including the Black United Fund, Work Force Center, Low Income Housing and Job Training, and the Community Economic Development Coalition. HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENT
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