STATE LEADERS

Protecting Equality of Opportunity in Florida Colleges and Universities

State Senator Kendrick Meek (Flemming Fellow ’95) is an excellent representative of dynamic, young African-American legislators who are making a difference in state capitols across the South. Senator Meek draws his activist spirit from observing his mother’s battles in the Florida legislature and successfully won her seat after she left for the U.S. Congress. In January when CPA board member Representative Tony Hill and Meek directly challenged the One Florida initiative introduced by Governor Jeb Bush. Meek and Hill held a twenty-five hour sit-in at Bush’s office to guarantee a series of committee meetings to publicly discussed Bush’s One Florida plan, which dismantled affirmative action in Florida college’s and universities. After the meetings, Hill and Meek called for a March on Tallahassee to begin Florida’s legislative session. The March drew over 50,000 people to the capital steps to demonstrate against the One Florida plan. In the hearts and minds of Floridians and legislators, the march was a success. "The March on Tallahassee refocused how equal opportunity will be implemented in the future and definitively illustrated how gender and race relate to equal opportunity," said Meek. Meek has also sponsored bills that curtail racial profiling, predatory lending practices by some lending institutions, and provide equitable juvenile sentencing. Meek serves on the Senate Agriculture and Consumer Services Committee, Select Committee on Apportionment and Redistricting, Ethics and Elections and the powerful Budget and Public Safety and Judiciary Subcommittees. Meek is an active member of CPA’s Southeast Policy Leaders Forum. He also serves on numerous boards. He is the Vice President of the Miami Dade branch of the NAACP; Inner City Youth Center Chairman and serves on both the Barry University Board and the Greater Miami Service Corp. Board.