A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture on Race Relations
The A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture on
Race Relations was created in 1995 
to perpetuate the work of a man who had devoted his life to the
ideal of racial parity. As professor and chair of sociology at
Arizona State University, A. Wade Smith worked tirelessly to improve
race relations on the ASU
campus and within the greater community. When he died from cancer
at the age of 43, his wife, family members and friends made memorial
gifts to establish and fund this lecture series.
2009 NOMINATIONS FOR COMMUNITY AWARD FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RACE RELATIONS
2008 Lecture
Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Location: Grady Gammage Auditorium
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. will present the 2008 A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture on Race Relations on Monday, April 7 at Arizona State University’s Grady Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, Arizona. Pitts’ remarks on race relations will be especially relevant in this presidential election year.
The nationally syndicated columnist joined The Miami Herald in 1991 as a pop music critic. Since 1994, he has achieved success as a syndicated columnist on the topics of pop culture, social issues and family life. Pitts was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2004 and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. He is the author of Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood and has written many books on celebrities. Pitts also wrote and produced the 1988 radio documentary on the history of Black America, “Who We Are.” Pitts began his professional career when he was an 18-year-old college student, doing freelance work for SOUL, a national black entertainment magazine. Two years later, he was the editor. One of Pitts’ most memorable columns is “We’ll Go Forward From This Moment,” which he wrote about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. This column was an angry and open letter to terrorists and generated an incredible response worldwide.
Pitts was a professor of journalism at Ohio University and Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005 and a visiting professor of journalism at Hampton University in 2003 and 2004. Pitts is a graduate of the University of Southern California and resides in the Washington, D.C., area.
This event is free but reservations are required. To register, please visit:
http://events.clas.asu.edu/register/wadesmith (clicking on this link will open a new browser window)
Support the A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture
ASU seeks to increase the lecture series endowment to a level that will sustain it in perpetuity. To support the lecture with an individual or corporate donation, you can make a contribution online through the CLAS Giving page. Be sure College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture are selected in the drop down boxes.
Additionally, you can contact Jill DeMichele or (480) 965-2617 or send this Gift and Pledge Card to the attention of Jill DeMichele, A. Wade Smith Memorial Lecture, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 876405, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287-6405.
For more information about the lecture series, please call (480) 965-0051 or e-mail clasevents@asu.edu.