The inaugural Nelson Mandela’s Legacy Event will be held this Wednesday on campus at the University Student Union ballrooms.
The first of two parts in this event will start with a panel discussion with guests Linda and Cherryl Brown, who are the daughters of Oliver Brown of the v: Brown v. Board of Education case, according to the event flyer. Dr. Joseph L. White will also participate in the panel from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., according to the flyer. They will discuss the “separate and unequal” in the educational system, the flyer stated.
The second part will allow students to “engage in critical conversations with leading experts in the field about the educational system and their role as agents for change” and will begin at 5 p.m., event organizer and multicultural programs coordinator Magdalena Muñoz-Perez said.
“This event serves as a platform for the student body to engage in critical conversation about issues that still currently impact all of us today,” Muñoz-Perez said.
This event will offer the chance to discuss topics such as school re-segregation, the overrepresentation of minorities among student expulsions and English learners and students with disabilities who don’t receive the same opportunities, director of graduate studies in the College of Education and event organizer Mary Anne Rose said via email.
Rose said that she hopes the premiere event will “continue for years.”
“The Multicultural Center and Office of Student Life & Development proposed to partner with various campus departments and organizations to create a new annual event that commemorates Nelson Mandela’s spirit and contribution to democracy, freedom, social justice and human rights,” Muñoz-Perez said.
The event partnered with College of Education, USU Program Council, College of Liberal Arts, Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership, University Honors Program Student Association and College of Education Student Assembly, Muñoz-Perez said.
There will be a reception preceding the second part of the event from 4 to 5 p.m., USU activities director Taylor Duhler-Scott said via email. If students wish to attend, they are asked to sign up in advanced, she said.