Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., a mentor to U.S. President Barack
Obama and attorney to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., will be the keynote
speaker of the University of the Virgin Islands Alfred O. Heath
Distinguished Lecture Series. He will speak on the topic: "The
Impact of President Obama's Reelection on Gun Violence in the
Virgin Islands." The lectures are scheduled for April 4, at the
Reichhold Center for the Arts on UVI's St. Thomas campus and April
5, in the Great Hall on the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix.
The public is invited to both events which begin at 6 p.m. and are
free.
Ogletree is the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and a prominent legal theorist. He has made an international reputation by taking a hard look at the complex issues of law, and by working to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution for everyone equally under the law. Ogletree is the founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Huston Institute for Race and Justice, which has engaged in a wide range of educational, legal and policy issues. He is the author of "The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America." Ogletree has written several other books, and has received many national awards and honorary degrees.
The Alfred O. Heath Distinguished Lecture Series offers the
public a setting in which to hear nationally and internationally
recognized individuals discuss issues related to the challenges and
opportunities faced by the global community. The series is the
University's way of recognizing and celebrating the outstanding
person and accomplished citizen that is Dr. Alfred O. Heath. As a
UVI trustee emeritus and chair of the Foundation for the University
of the Virgin Islands, Dr. Heath is an ardent, longtime supporter
of the mission of the University.
Last year's series was presented as a symposium on the life of Edward Wilmot Blyden, who was largely regarded as the "Father of Pan-Africanism." Dr. Hollis R. Lynch, a professor emeritus at Columbia University and one of the world's leading experts on the life and times of Edward Wilmot Blyden, was the keynote speaker. Past presenters of the Alfred O. Heath Distinguished Lecture Series were magazine publishing legend Susan L. Taylor, educator and author Dr. Steve Perry, physician and humanitarian Dr. David Walton, renowned poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, award-winning veteran journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author and activist Randall Robinson, Caribbean Development Bank President Dr. Compton Bourne and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives the Hon. Ronald Dellums.
For more information about the Alfred O. Heath Distinguished
Lecture Series call UVI's Senior Donor Relations and Special Events
Coordinator Liza Margolis at (340) 693-1053.