Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson will be the keynote speaker at Roosevelt University’s 2024 Commencement ceremony. Held in the Auditorium Theatre, the event will honor all bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral graduates from the past academic year and congratulate them on their accomplishments. Johnson will discuss the importance of diverse viewpoints in higher education and how his administration’s emphasis on educational accessibility aligns with Roosevelt’s values of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Before he was sworn in as mayor of Chicago, Johnson was a public school teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer who led multi-racial coalitions to defend neighborhood schools from privatization, reduce high-stakes standardized testing and expand access to state funding. He was elected Cook County Commissioner of the 1st District in 2018, and during his five-year tenure he led efforts to pass the Just Housing Ordinance that prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, legislation to secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, and coordinated Covid-19 resources for low-income seniors in nursing homes.
In 2023, Johnson was elected Mayor of Chicago on a progressive platform that emphasized investment in Chicago’s neighborhoods, mental health facilities, public transportation and affordable housing. Early accomplishments for his administration have included the Treatment Not Trauma initiative to fund mental health facilities, increased time off for Chicago city employees and phasing out subminimum wage salaries for tipped workers.
