Howard “Buck” McKeon will be speaking at College of the Canyons early November to kick off the college’s Civic Engagement Speaker Series and McKeon Leadership Forum.

The Civic Engagement Speaker Series will be held at COC’s University Center room 258 at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5.

“It will be an informal conversation between McKeon, the students and faculty of COC about servant leadership,” Dr. Patty Robinson, COC Dean of Social Science and Business said.

McKeon will present the idea of servant leadership as giving back to others and tying it together with his life as a congressman, Robinson said.

This will be the first event of the speaker series, with more speakers coming to the school in the spring. Robinson said that the speakers will be high profile for the series.

In addition to the Civic Engagement Speaker Series, McKeon will also be at his first annual McKeon Leadership Forum.

McKeon will be inviting General John F Kelly, a four-star general with the Marine Corps, to speak at the Leadership Forum, Robinson said.

The forum will also be a chance for McKeon to give back to COC, offering a scholarship fund exclusively for COC students, in the McKeon Scholarship award, according to COC Public information office.

It will also mark the announcement of the McKeon Archive at COC.

The Leadership Forum will be held at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

Both events will be free to attend for the public.

About Buck McKeon

Howard Philip McKeon was born Sept. 9 1958 in Los Angeles as the oldest of five boys. He graduated from Brigham Young university with a Bachelor’s degree in animal science.

He would end up going into business with his father, Howard C. McKeon selling western wear in and calling it Howard & Phil’s Western Wear. It would become the largest western wear at the time with 63 locations in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.

After being in business McKeon ran for office in Santa Clarita, running for the William S. Hart Union School Governing Board, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and eventually for the City of Santa Clarita where he became the city’s first mayor.

In 1992 McKeon ran for congress and became a congressman in the 103rd congress in 1993.

During his time as congressman he would be appointed to be Chairman of both the Education and Workforce Committee in 2006 and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee in 2009.

Today McKeon runs the McKeon Group LLC. as chairman. The group works with Washington to ensure people who desire an education can receive one and to help men and women in the armed services get the tools they need to accomplish the mission and return home.

About General Kelly

A career Marine, General Kelly first enlisted in 1970.

After earning his degree from the University of Massachusetts, he returned to the Marine Corps as a commissioned officer, launching a career marked by consistent promotion, advanced education, and combat leadership.

A graduate of the National War College, General Kelly also attended the Marine Corps Command and the School for Advanced Warfare.

General Kelly came to United States Southern Command from his previous position as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. Before that, he spent three years leading Marine Expeditionary Forces in Iraq.