TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Honors Among his numerous honors, the Morehouse College Alumni Association named him Man of the Year in the early 1990s. His alma mater also bestowed its prestigious “A Candle in the Dark Award” to him in 1990. Butts was a member of the school’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. The Morehouse College International Hall of Honor holds over two hundred origi- nal oil portraits of distinguished leaders in the civil and human rights nonvio- lent movement, including Butts. He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Morehouse in 2011. He also received several honor- ary degrees from Dillard University, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Claflin College, City Uni- versity of New York, Fordham Univer- sity, Hartwick College, Muhlenberg College, Trinity College, and Tuskegee University. Over the years, Butts was a fre- quent university commencement speaker, most recently serving as the commencement speaker at Fordham University in May 2022 Butts also received various awards, including the United Negro College Fund’s Shirley Chisholm Community Service Award, the Medal for Distin- guished Service from Teachers Col- lege, Columbia University, the William M. Moss Distinguished Brotherhood Award, the 2014 Unitas Distinguished
Alumni Award from Union Theological Seminary and the Louise Fisher Morris Humanitarian Award. The New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry recognized him as a “Living Treasure.” In 2012, Butts, joined U.S. Presi- dent Barack Obama on stage, celebrat- ing the groundbreaking for the Smith- sonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Four years later, he returned to Wash- ington, DC to speak at the museum’s official opening. In the fall of 2021, Butts returned to Fordham University at its Graduate School of Education as a distinguished
visiting professor in the Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy Division (ELAP) and supported pro- grams in the GSE’s Center for Catholic School Leadership and Faith-Based Education. Brother Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III is survived by his wife and Silhouette of 51 years, Patricia (née Reed) Butts; children Calvin (Tiffany) IV, Alexander, and Patricia; grandchildren Kyla, Alex- ander, Jr., Calvin V., Arthur, Reed, and Ethan; close relatives, friends, mentees, colleagues, church members and those in the “Beloved Community.”
Above: Grand Polemarch Shelton led the delegation to celebrate the life of Brother Rev. Dr. Butts.
54 | FALL - WINTER 2022 ♦ THE JOURNAL
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