U.S. Rep. Butterfield 2017 ECSU Spring Commencement Keynote Speaker
North Carolina’s first district representative to the U.S. House of Representatives Congressman G.K. Butterfield Jr. will give the keynote address during the 2017 Elizabeth City State University commencement on May 13 2017 9 a.m. at the R.L Vaughan Center on the campus of ECSU.
Congressman Butterfield a native of Wilson North Carolina is the son of a prominent Wilson dentist Dr. G.K. Butterfield Sr. who founded the Wilson branch of the NAACP in the late 1940s. The congressman earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from North Carolina Central University and went on to earn his law degree in 1974 also from NCCU.
In 1988 Congressman Butterfield was elected as Resident Superior Court judge in the first judicial division. For the next 12 years he presided over civil and criminal court in 46 North Carolina counties. In February 2001 he was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court by Gov. Mike Easley.
Congressman Butterfield was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 during a special election after the retirement of former congressman Frank Ballance. Since 2004 the congressman has served on the Energy and Commerce Committee the Armed Services Committee the House Agriculture Committee and as the chairman of the Black Congressional Caucus. In 2007 he was appointed the Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus.