The medal “is presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the welfare, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other important social, public, or private endeavors,” the White House said. Megan Rapinoe, a member of the US women’s national soccer team who is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion, will become the first female soccer player to receive the medal. Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Catholic social justice leader Sister Simone Campbell, the former NETWORK executive director who leads “Nuns on the Bus,” a group of politically active monks, will also receive the award. The list of recipients also includes Fred Gray, who was one of the first black members of the Alabama state legislature after Reconstruction and who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and Martin Luther King as a lawyer. It also includes one of the most decorated women in US military history, retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught. an intensive care nurse who was the first American woman to receive a Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, Sandra Lindsay. and the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president, Dr. Julieta Garcia. Lindsay told CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Thursday that she wanted to use her platform to encourage people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Her message to those still skeptical about getting the vaccine, she said, is “keep doing your research. Reach out to people you trust. I’m still here, it’s been almost three years, and I’m still advocating. So if you are not protected yet, please go out and protect yourself.” Other recipients include: Civil rights activist Diane Nash, who worked with Martin Luther King and is a founding member of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee. Father Alexandros Karloutsos, former vicar general of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. civil rights advocate Raúl Yzaguirre, who served as CEO and president of the National Council of La Raza; former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming; and former AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who will be awarded the medal posthumously. “President Biden has long said that America can be defined in one word: potential. These 17 Americans demonstrate the power of potential and embody the soul of the nation — hard work, perseverance and faith,” the president said in a statement. White House. . Biden is a Medal of Freedom recipient himself. Then-President Barack Obama surprised his vice president with the award in 2017. CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.
