Jesse Jackson made honorary fellow of Cambridge’s Homerton College

The 80-year-old fought for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s.

US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson has been made an honorary fellow of Cambridge’s Homerton College. He is pictured with the college’s principal Lord Woolley (David Johnson/ PA)

US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has been sworn in as an honorary fellow of a Cambridge University college.

Lord Woolley, principal of Homerton College, said that the move by “civil rights icon” Reverend Jackson will “encourage others to be part of Homerton’s extraordinary journey, to nurture the next generation of global leaders”.

Rev Jackson, 80, fought for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s.

Born in Greenville South Carolina in 1941, he was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1968.

US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson has been made an honorary fellow of Cambridge’s Homerton College. He is pictured with the college’s principal Lord Woolley. (David Johnson/ PA)

He was twice a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, in 1984 and 1988.

Lord Woolley, who is also an equalities campaigner and the founder of Operation Black Vote, became the first black man to lead a college at Cambridge or Oxford after taking up his post in October.

He said: “As Principal of Homerton, inducting Reverend Jesse Jackson into the College community is indeed a great honour.

“Homerton College, within Cambridge University, seeks to have an international presence as a champion for human rights and embracing diversity.

“As such, having a civil rights icon such as Reverend Jackson as an honorary fellow will encourage others to be part of Homerton’s extraordinary journey, to nurture the next generation of global leaders.”

Last month, the Prince of Wales said while visiting the college that promoting greater inclusion and diversity has always been a subject “close to my heart”, and he has tried to support it for “much of my life”.