Class of ’87 & ’89| On August 24, a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, Lolita Jackson C’89 (far left) and Congressman Vito Fossella W’87 (center) were among those selected to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange. Fossella, a Republican from Staten Island, is serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives. Jackson, president of the Metropolitan Republican Club of New York, was an alternate delegate to the convention.
Asked about the seeming incongruity of being a Republican of color, Jackson replied: “The road to me becoming a Republican began with my college-acceptance letters. I played by the rules—two varsity sports, class officer, calculus, A average—yet when I gained acceptance to Penn and two other Ivy League schools, I was told I only got in because I was black. By ‘liberal’ teachers. That and the fact that Jesse Jackson was running for president the year before and anyone who didn’t support him 100 percent was considered a sellout, made me realize that I wanted to think for myself, and help create an atmosphere where the achievements of a person of color aren’t questioned.”
—S.H.