Benedictine University is one of the most diverse institutions of higher learning in the country and we are hosting a community day on Thursday, October 9, 2014 to celebrate and examine “The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Past, Present and Future” topic, within an historical context. The community day is a luncheon, followed by a panel discussion led by Tallahassee, Florida Mayor John Marks, and features our evening keynote speaker, the Rev. F. Willis Johnson of Ferguson, MO.  I certainly hope your schedule allows you and your staff to attend in person.  Please find the press release for this event here:https://www.ben.edu/news/2014/civil-rights-event.cfm

The events in Ferguson, Missouri have reminded the nation that the issue of race remains one of the most important and complex issues facing the United States.  The signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is legislatively, the most significant action on the issue of race since the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. These two events, the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, and the signing of the Civil rights Act of 1964, frame the all-community event, “The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Past, Present and Future.”

• The day begins with a luncheon address by the Mayor of Tallahassee Florida, John Marks.  Marks was one of the first African –Americans, along with eight other students, to integrate Florida State University in 1965.  He was also a very active member of the non-violent civil rights campaigns and sit in movements during the early sixties.  “Mayor Marks from his experience with the movement will share with us the feelings and experience of those who were involved in the movement when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.  He also, as a distinguished lawyer and now Mayor of Tallahassee, can also shed a critical light on the evolution of the act and its meaning from a political and legal perspective today” said Dr. Vincent Gaddis, professor of History at Benedictine University and one of the organizers of the day.
• The afternoon will feature a panel from 3:00-5:00 with Mayor Marks, Dr. Fannie Rushing, a professor of history at Benedictine University who was also a founding member of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) in Chicago, and another special guest, Reverend F. Willis Johnson Jr. Pastor of Wellspring Church in Ferguson Missouri.  “Pastor Johnson has been one of the key leaders in Ferguson organizing non-violent protests and as a leading voice in the community creating paths of dialogue with the police and FBI” said Gaddis.   “If we want to really understand the underlying issues to what happened in Ferguson, Pastor Johnson is an excellent person to come and share” said Dr. Philip Hardy, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Civic Leadership at Benedictine University.
• Reverend Johnson will end the day with an address at 7:00 pm.  All events will be held in the Krasa Center on the campus of Benedictine University 5700 College Road in Lisle, Illinois.