Photo by Ralph Alswang courtesy of The White House

The Rev. Gardner C. Taylor (left) will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Vanderbilt Divinity School Sept. 1. Taylor will deliver the keynote address at the Divinity School's fall convocation at 4 p.m. in Benton Chapel the same day. The event is free and open to the public. Gardner received the Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in The White House Aug. 9. "As a civil rights pioneer and longtime pastor of Brooklyn's Concord Baptist Church, Gardner Taylor is a man of the people and of God, and a leader of singular courage, humility and compassion," said Clinton