USC Law Student Invited to Celebration of Reading event with Former President George H.W. Bush, Mrs. Barbara Bush, and Other USC Leaders

May 11, 2009

In this picture from left to right:
Ellen Hinrichs (Director of the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy), Tommy Preston (2L), President George H.W. Bush, and First Lady Barbara Bush.

On May 11th, Former USC Student Body President and current USC Law Student Tommy Preston, USC First Lady Patricia Moore-Pastides, and other university leaders were invited to Washington, DC as guests of Former President George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush to attend their annual Celebration of Reading event. The event is part of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which is committed to combating illiteracy in the United States.

In 2005, while serving as Student Body Treasurer, Tommy Preston (2L) created a literacy program, Cocky’s Reading Express, which sends USC students and our mascot, Cocky to schools across South Carolina to promote the importance of reading. The program was expanded during Tommy’s term as Student Body President and has now reached over 12,000 children across the state.

Each child that the program comes in contact with receives a book to take home and makes a verbal promise to Cocky to read the book to their moms and dads, brothers and sisters—even cats and dogs and goldfish. Cocky’s Reading Express is the only University mascot–sponsored literacy program in the country.

The program also garnered the attention of First Lady Michelle Obama, who participated in a school visit with Cocky and friends during her husband’s primary campaign in South Carolina last year.

For more information about Cocky’s Reading Express, visit www.cockysreadingexpress.com