Ex-Obama "czar" to speak at Middlebury

MIDDLEBURY – Van Jones, a CNN political contributor, attorney, author, and environmental and human rights activist, will deliver the 2016 Middlebury College commencement address on Sunday, May 29. Jones is the president and co-founder of Dream Corps, whose current initiatives, including #cut50, #YesWeCode, and Green For All, work to bring economic opportunity to disenfranchised communities. In 2009, Jones was the special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he helped to run the inter-agency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending. He became a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in 2010, where he leads their Green Opportunity Initiative. Jones is the author of two books, "The Green Collar Economy" and "Rebuild the Dream". Both titles were New York Times Bestsellers. Jones is also the co-founder of two social justice organizations, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change. "Because Van's life and work is a symbol for open, civil debate on the key issues of our time, I am thrilled that he is able to join us and inspire our students as they move into the next chapters of their lives," said Middlebury President Laurie L. Patton. "We should all be willing to cross as many boundaries as Van has to create a better world." Jones will receive an honorary doctor of humane letter degree at the college's commencement ceremony. Jones resigned as an Obama "czar" in 2009 amid controversy about public comments he had made prior to his appointment. According to an online news report posted on Politico, dated Sept. 6, 2009, "Jones was under fire for his past affiliation with the 9/11 conspiracy 'truthers' and for calling Republicans 'a**holes' in a video before he was appointed to the Obama administration. Republicans had also begun using him to escalate criticism of the administration's deployment of czars across the policy landscape, saying that they were being used (by Obama) to avoid senate scrutiny of appointees."

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Ex-Obama "czar" to speak at Middlebury

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