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This Day in Black History: July 19, 1949

The president of Old Westbury College, Calvin O. Butts III was born on July 19, 1949.

Educator and pastor Dr. Calvin O. Butts III was born on July 19, 1949, in New York City.

Since September 1999, Butts has been the president of State University of New York College at Old Westbury and a pastor at the historically acclaimed Abyssinian Baptist Church.

As president of Old Westbury College, Butts has led the school to its largest enrollment in 15 years and expanded the college's student aid services.

Also under his leadership, the college created its first-ever graduate programs, which includes a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Taxation and a Master of Arts and Master of Science degrees in Adolescence Education.

Butts also helped establish the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, which is a public high school in Harlem, NY.

Butts earned his Bachelor degree in Philosophy at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He then returned to New York where he earned a master of divinity degree in church history from the Union Theological Seminary, and a doctor of ministry in church and public policy from Drew University.


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(Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Jackie Robinson Foundation)

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