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Civil rights leader to speak at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´‘s Benton Chapel

Civil rights pioneer and ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ Distinguished University Professor will give a lecture at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´‘s Benton Chapel on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.

Just days after returning from an historic trip with fellow civil rights pioneers, retracing the powerful and often violent trail of the 1961 , Lawson will reflect on the civil rights movement and the legacy of the .

King hailed Lawson as “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” As a divinity student at in the late 1950s, Lawson trained and led activists in Nashville‘s successful to end segregated lunch counters. He also played a leading role in the march on Washington and the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers‘ strike.

Lawson‘s activism led to his expulsion from ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´. After protests by some at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´, he was invited to return in 1960, but he chose to finish his degree elsewhere. In 2005, Lawson received ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´‘s Distinguished Alumnus Award and is now a Distinguished Visiting Professor.

The public is invited to the 1 p.m. speech at Benton Chapel, with a reception immediately following at the Lawson was asked to speak by Owen‘s Black Student Association.

Founded in 1969, the Owen Graduate School of Management at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ is ranked as a top institution by , and . For more news about Owen, visit www.owen.vanderbilt.edu.

Media contact: Amy Wolf (615) 322-NEWS
amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu