Vernon Jordan was a unique leader who was able to bridge the gap from where power was held to where it was needed. I remember the commencement address he gave at my college graduation as president of the National Urban League. He had been shot the year before, and warned more than 3,500 graduates of the University of Pennsylvania that they were entering a world polluted with “pockets of hate.” He said in the commencement address that the world had changed since he graduated from DePauw University, “but not nearly enough . . . the wrongs that still remain face the new graduates.”

Sadly, Vernon Jordan could give that same speech today.

Godspeed, Mr. Jordan.

Michael Bellissimo