Bill Text: VA HJR319 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Lawrence Bussey.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 37-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-06 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ319ER) [HJR319 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HJR319-Introduced.html
WHEREAS, Lawrence Bussey, a longtime member of the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and member of the Reston community, died on July 22, 2022; and
WHEREAS, after attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, where he excelled in track and field, Lawrence "Larry" Bussey earned a bachelor's degree in education and master's degree in education administration from New York University, followed by a doctoral degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and
WHEREAS, Lawrence Bussey began his noble and distinguished career as an art educator in the New York City Public School System, contributing greatly to his students' success both in and out of the classroom; and
WHEREAS, with a deep commitment to ensuring equal access to quality education for the nation's youth, Larry Bussey joined the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), where for more than 30 years he worked tirelessly as an enforcement officer to identify, resolve, and prevent acts of discrimination against students; and
WHEREAS, Larry Bussey supported OCR's Civil Rights Data Collection survey by gathering, analyzing, and reporting on a plethora of school-level and district-level data, developing a vital resource for the Department of Education, policymakers, researchers, journalists, parents, and educators; and
WHEREAS, following his retirement from the U.S. Department of Education, Larry Bussey remained actively involved with a variety of educational institutions and equity and diversity organizations and initiatives, including Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the Fairfax Alliance of Black School Educators, the Fairfax County branch of the NAACP, and The Family Place, an organization in Washington, D.C., serving low-income immigrant families; and
WHEREAS, Larry Bussey was a founding and longtime member of FCPS's Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee and strove indefatigably to redress inequitable systems and practices in the school division; and
WHEREAS, Larry Bussey was an accomplished and practicing artist who continued to paint and sketch throughout his life and who supported his fellow artists as a patron and teacher at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE); and
WHEREAS, Larry Bussey was happiest when spending time with his immediate and extended family and loved to entertain them over the years with his elaborate and humorous stories; and
WHEREAS, Larry Bussey will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by his loving wife of 62 years, Ellen; his children, Lawrence, Tara, and Gabrielle, and their families; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Lawrence Bussey, a cherished member of the Reston community whose kind and caring nature made an impact on countless lives; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Lawrence Bussey as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.
