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Brooklyn, NY--The Reverend Eugene F. Rivers 3rd, who made the cover of Newsweek last June for his national presence in the war against juvenile crime, will deliver the commencement address at the 69th commencement exercises of the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University on Thursday, May 20. He will also receive the Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree.

Reverend Rivers is the founder and president of the Ella J. Baker House, a teen recreation center and parish house for at-risk children in Dorchester, a poor neighborhood of Boston. Baker House helps reclaim 1,300 inner-city youths a year from the streets. The urban activist, who has been called "a savior of the streets," is a proponent of faith and community-based law enforcement programs. His brand of crime fighting and community building--partnering religion and law enforcement, clergy and cops--has gained national attention because it has dramatically reduced crime and improved the lives of thousands of young people. His "Boston Model" involves hands-on clergy work in the streets, getting to know gang members and teaming with police to study the chances for each juvenile's rehabilitation.

Born in Boston and raised in Philadelphia, this son of a Pentecostal mother and a Muslim father is an ex-gang member who was rescued from that life by Reverend Benjamin Smith, a legendary Philadelphia inner-city evangelist. An intellectual who has taken courses at Harvard, Reverend Rivers has met with President Clinton, and, last June, was the focus of Newsweek's cover story, "God vs. Gangs: What's the Hottest Idea In Crime Fighting? The Power of Religion."

His commitment of time, energy and love to transforming the lives of teenagers and his outspoken and unconventional views have earned accolades as well as criticism. He has rocked the boat with harsh criticism of political leaders, fellow ministers, police and City Hall, and was called by Newsweek "an impolitic preacher on the cutting edge of a hot idea," who is not afraid to cross swords with the left or right. He is now exploring ways in which the Clinton Administration, through the Justice Department and Departments of Labor and Education, might support faith-based crime prevention initiatives in partnership with the law-enforcement community.

He lives with his wife Jacqueline in Dorchester with their two children.

Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, which has experienced a decade of rapid growth, offers more than 11,000 students 127 programs in over 50 undergraduate and a comparable number of graduate fields, including doctorates in clinical psychology and pharmaceutics.

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