Each week throughout the 2018 General Assembly, the Recorder will spotlight one of the 14 members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.
District: Indiana House District 14
Hometown: Gary
Year elected: 1990
Education: Bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral in education from Indiana University.
Day job: Deacon at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, former interim dean of School of Education, Indiana University Northwest.
Topics of interest: Education and government reform
Committee roles: Education, ranking minority member; Government & Regulatory Reform, member; Insurance, member; Local Government, member.
Community involvement: Founder and board president of African-American Achievers Youth Corps; Criminal Justice Institute, board member; Indiana Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, chairman; Gary City-Wide Festival Committee, founder and chairman; Northwest Indiana Urban League board of Directors; of I.U. Dons, founder and president; Northern Indiana Association of Black School Educators, founder and member; Vernon Stars founder and sponsor; Indiana University Alumni Association; NAACP; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Indiana University Northwest Chapter of the American Association of University Professors; Gary Reading Council/Indiana State Reading Association; Indiana Association of School Principals; Phi Delta Kappa; Brothers Keepers Shelter for Homeless Men; Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana, and Handgun Control.
Vernon G. Smith
