January 20, 2015

Campus events honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Events continue this week to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader who won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, a faculty panel discussion, “The Making of Ferguson,” is from 6 to 8 p.m., in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium. Various faculty will discuss the circumstances that led up to what has transpired in recent months in Ferguson, Mo.  

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, a presentation, “Why Ferguson Can’t Wait: Teach the System to Change the System,” is at 6 p.m. in the School of Law’s Hiram H. Lesar Building Auditorium. The guest speaker is Justin Hansford, an attorney, assistant professor, and former White House staff member. 

Hansford holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University and he earned his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in 2007. At Georgetown, he founded “The Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives.” An assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Law, he assisted in founding Image Southeast Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.  

He was a staff member with the Obama for America presidential campaign and worked in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. The National Bar Association named him one of the “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40” and he has been heavily involved in civil rights activities in Ferguson, even accompanying the family of Michael Brown to testify before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.  

For more information about the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance 2015, contact the Center for Inclusive Excellence at 618/453-3740.