Armstrong-Branch Distinguished Lecture Series Set for March 18 on Hattiesburg Campus
Mon, 03/10/2025 - 10:23am | By: Dr. David Tisdale
The University of 麻豆传媒 is partnering with University Forum to host the 2025 Armstrong-Branch Distinguished Lecture Series on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Thad Cochran Center Grand Ballroom on the Hattiesburg campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
The event will feature criminal justice activist Kevin Richardson, who was arrested and convicted along with four other Black and Latino youths鈥搆nown as the Central Park Five鈥揻or the attack and assault of jogger Trisha Meili. Richardson, who spent seven years in prison before his exoneration, now collaborates with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing. His story and the stories of the other Central Park Five were featured in the 2019 Netflix series, When They See Us.
The lecture series was established in 1993 in honor of Gwendolyn Armstrong-Chamberlain and Raylawni Adams Branch, the first African American students to integrate the University in 1965.
Valencia Walls, director of the Southern Miss Office of Community and Belonging, says she鈥檚 honored to lead this year鈥檚 effort to present the Armstrong-Branch Lecture, now in its 33rd year of preserving 鈥渢he enduring legacy of these two civil rights pioneers.鈥�
鈥淭his year鈥檚 Armstrong-Branch Lecture is also especially significant as we commemorate University Forum鈥檚 50th anniversary, reinforcing our commitment to dialogue, progress and representation,鈥� added Walls.
University Forum is presented in the fall and spring semesters by the Honors College, with support from the Office of the President.
鈥淭he Honors College is delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Armstrong-Branch Lecture Series to bring Mr. Richardson to University Forum,鈥� said Dr. Joyce Inman, dean of the Southern Miss Honors College. 鈥淲e hope students, faculty, staff, and community members will join us as we listen to Mr. Richardson鈥檚 story and learn more about how we can foster the difficult conversations that allow us to work together toward a more equitable world.鈥�
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