“Reflections of a Segregated Life” lecture by Jeff Guillory at Sept. 22 WSU Common Reading Program

Pullman, Wash. – “Reflections of a Segregated Life,” a lecture about the personal side of growing up in the Jim Crow south, will be presented by Jeff Guillory, director of Washington State University’s Office of Diversity Education, at 7 p.m. Tues., Sept. 22, in Todd 130.  The public is welcome at this free event hosted by the Common Reading Program.

Guillory will share his experience with the civil rights movement and integration, and how he chose to make a difference. He believes in this philosophy: “We have more things in common than our differences.”

His expertise on diversity comes from many sources. He grew up in Houston, Texas, during the Jim Crow era in the 1950s and 60s, and personally experienced segregation and racial discrimination. He is today a recognized elder in the Nez Perce Tribe.  At WSU, he co-developed and implemented the institution’s diversity education program in 1994, and served as the director of the Center for Human Rights. He shared his commitment to diversity education with his children; son Justin (M. Ed. ’00, Ph D. ’08) is president of the North West Indian College in Bellingham.

Now in its ninth year, WSU’s Common Reading Program introduces students in first-year classes to an academic dialogue around a single book. The 2015-16 book is Just Mercy, by Brian Stevenson. The program also hosts lectures, film showings, and other events to explore topics in the book.  Stevenson will visit Pullman to deliver the annual Common Reading Invited Lecture on Dec. 1 at Beasley Coliseum.

Read more about the program, the book, events, and nominating a book for 2016-17 at http://commonreading.wsu.edu/. Recommendations for the next common reading book, must also address the two-year theme of “leadership and social justice.” Nominations will close Oct. 15.