Ward Connerly to speak at SIUC this week

January 23, 2006

Ward Connerly to speak at SIUC this week

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Ward Connerly, founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, will present a lecture this week at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Connerly will present "America's Promise Realized: Getting Beyond Race," at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law School Auditorium.

The event is open to the public and admission is free.

Connerly has gained national attention for his views on equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, sex or ethnic background.

Connerly has been at the forefront of race-based issues for more than a decade. In 1995, as a member of the University of California Board of Regents, he led an effort that ended the university's use of race-based preferences as a means of admission. He subsequently led the California Civil Rights Initiative, and similar race-based measures in Washington in 1998 and Florida in 2000. He is currently working with a group in Michigan for voter approval in November of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Co-sponsors are the SIUC Student Program Council Lecture Committee, SIUC Multicultural Programs and Services, SIU Law School, SIU College Republicans, SIU Law School Republicans, SIU Law School Federalist Society, SIUC Graduate Student and Professional Council, and the Virginia-based Young America's Foundation.

Developing citizen-leaders with global perspectives is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.