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Dec. 3, 2004

Veteran Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond to Lecture, Receive Award at NC State Brotherhood Celebration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Julian Bond

Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will deliver a public lecture titled “2004: A Race Odyssey” on Friday, Dec. 17, at 1 p.m. in the Witherspoon Student Center Cinema as part of North Carolina State University’s 22nd annual University-Community Brotherhood Celebration.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Witherspoon Student Center is located at the corner of Cates Avenue and Dan Allen Drive on the NC State main campus.

Bond will be presented the Benjamin E. Mays Memorial Award at the Brotherhood Dinner later that evening. The award honors an African-American who has made contributions to the United States as a scholar and humanitarian. The dinner is by invitation only.

From his days as a college student to his current position as chairman of the board of the NAACP, Bond has been an active participant in movements for civil rights, economic justice and social change for more than 40 years. He has also earned distinction as a state legislator, a university professor and a writer.

In 1960 while a student at Morehouse College, Bond helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a key civil rights organization that planned sit-ins in segregated businesses and conducted voter-registration drives throughout the South. Bond was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1965 and went on to serve in both the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia Senate for more than 20 years. In 1968, Bond became the first African-American to be nominated for the vice presidency of the United States, but he declined because he was too young to serve.

Bond is a distinguished professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a professor of history at the University of Virginia. He also holds 21 honorary degrees. Bond is a commentator on America’s Black Forum, the oldest black-owned television show in syndication. His poetry and articles have appeared in numerous publications. Additionally, Bond has narrated numerous documentaries, including the Academy Award-winning “A Time For Justice” and the prize-winning and critically acclaimed series “Eyes On The Prize.”

In addition to Bond, six outstanding African-American students representing NC State, St. Augustine’s College and Shaw University will be honored at the Brotherhood Dinner. Students being honored at this year’s dinner are:

NC State: Ngozi Motilewa of the Virgin Islands, a senior majoring in chemical engineering; Brian Pressley of Cary, a senior majoring in economics.

Shaw: Michele E. Johnson of St. Catherine, Jamaica, a senior majoring in international relations; Jeremy Amos Walker of Savannah, Ga., a senior majoring in therapeutic recreation.

St. Augustine’s: Ebonie S. Platt of Raleigh, a senior majoring in sociology; Christopher Walkes of Delray Beach, Fla., a sophomore majoring in pre-med.

The Brotherhood Dinner was established in 1982 to recognize important contributions that African-Americans have made and continue to make to the nation and the world, and to reaffirm the university and community’s commitment to enhancing an environment where people of different races may come to study and work together. Previous honorees include former U.S. Rep. Eva M. Clayton; astronaut Col. Guion S. Bluford, Jr.; artist/educator Dr. Margaret Burroughs; historian Dr. John Hope Franklin; educator and civil rights pioneer Robert Moses; and Bennett College president Dr. Johnnetta Cole.

The University Community Brotherhood Dinner is made possible by the generous contributions of Progress Energy, BellSouth and the Aelmings Human Resources Corporation.

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