College Graduates and Audience to Weigh-in at Norton's Young, Educated and Unemployed Roundtable
College Graduates and Audience to Weigh-in at Norton's
Young, Educated and Unemployed Roundtable
September 7, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC -- Recent graduates will be permitted to make brief statements on the challenges they have encountered in securing gainful employment upon completing college during Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) Roundtable entitled, "Young, Educated and Unemployed: Keeping College Graduates from Becoming a Lost Generation" on Wednesday, September 8, 2010, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th Street NW. The current unemployment rate of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 is 19.1 percent, higher than the national average. Three experts will speak before the testimony of recent graduates to help the public understand why recent graduates are encountering problems and what they should do. Robert H. Shriver, III is the Senior Policy Counsel at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Many recent graduates have flocked to D.C. because of the expansion of federal government programs. Tony Pugh is an award-winning journalist who writes for McClatchy Newspaper on this subject cogently and provocatively. Katherine Stahl is the Executive Director of American University's Career Center. Elijah Harrison, a 2009 graduate of Bowie State University, and Ebony Lea, a graduate student at the University of Maryland College Park, will be the first recent graduates to testify, followed by members of the audience. Congresswoman Norton will use what she learns at the Roundtable to assist recent graduates when Congress reconvenes next week.
"In today's tough job market, which threatens to shut out a generation of educated young people, we must focus on what is being done to employ the many young Americans desperately seeking work," said Norton. "These young people were encouraged to go to school and incur steep student loans with the promise of career options and significant earning potential upon graduation. Unfortunately, many have already learned that a college education may not be the golden ticket to finding a job during a deep recession. We will learn where they are looking, and should look, how they are coping, and what lies ahead."
WHO: The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Robert Shriver, Tony Pugh, Katherine Stahl, Elijah Harrison, and Ebony Lea
WHAT: Roundtable discussion - Young, Educated and Unemployed: Keeping College Graduates from Becoming a Lost Generation
WHERE: Busboys & Poets, 2021 14th Street NW
WHEN: Wednesday, September 8, 2010, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.