Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa Auel Louise Gordly, B.S. '74 AVEL LoulsE GoRDLY became the first African American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1996. Her legislative record includes an array ofinitiatives that focus on culrural competency in education. menral healrh, and rhe administration of jusrice. In addirion ro commirtee assignments such as Joint tVays and Means, Education Policy, Tlade and Economic Development, and Environmental Qualiry Ms. Gordly advocated for and then co-chaired Governor John Kitzhabert Thsk Force on Racial and Ethnic Health and served on the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature. Another innovation to her credit was the Governort Thsk Force <-tn Environmental Justice, now enshrined in law and a nationally recognized iniriative srill serving Oregonians. She also achieved notable reform in the Senate caucus system and briefly secured press access for meetings that were usually closed. Born in Portland in 1947, Ms. Gordly graduated from Giris Polytechnic High Schooi in 1965 and worked at Pacific Northwest Bell until 1970. That year, she enrolled at Portland State Universiry where she earned a degree in rhe adminisrrarion ofjustice. After graduation, she worked for the Oregon Corrections Division as a women's work-release counselor and later as an adult parole and probation officer. A key affiliation for Ms. Gordly was the Black United Front (BUF). A national civil rights group headquartered in Chicago, Portland's dynamic BUF was founded in 1979. In addition to handling media work for the group, Ms. Gordly coordinated the Front's Saturday School. Its African American history program was tied to curriculum reform in the public education system. \X/ith the Frontt spin-off, Portlanders Organized for Southern African Freedom, and in concert with the American Friends Service Committee, Ms. Gordly helped score key anri-aparrheid victories in Oregon during the 1980s. Ms. Gordly has received awards from groups such as the Y\WCA of Greater Portland, the NAACB the Oregon Youth Authoriry Delta Sigma Theta Sororiry the Girl Scouts, and the Oregon Commission for \fomen. In 2008, Oregon Health Sciences Universiry opened the Avel Gordly Center for Healing, dedicated to culturally specific mental health and psychiatric services. In 2009, Albina Head Start recognized Ms. Gordly's championing of funding for their programs srate-wide by renaming irs administrative headquarters in her honor. Recently, she received the Urban League of Portland's Edwin C. Berry Lifetime Achievement Award, the Legislar ive Leadership Li lerime Achievement Award from the National Newspaper Publisher s Association. the Skanner Netas, and the Portland Obseruer, and the J.C. Hawthorne League's Oregon Mental Health Caucus Founder'.s award. Oregon State Universiry Press published her memoir, Remembering the Power ofWords: The Lfe ofAn Oregon Legisla tor. Act i uist. a nd Com m u n i ry Leader in 2071.
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