Dr. Cornel West, professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary, Professor Emeritus at Princeton and one of the country’s most provocative public intellectuals, will deliver the Tresolini Lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in Baker Hall.
The talk, titled “Race and Class in America: From the Voting Rights Act to Black Lives Matter,” is free and open to the public. It is being co-sponsored by the university's Visiting Lectures Committee.
"Cornel West is a powerful speaker who has been a consistent advocate for social justice and real democracy,” said Distinguished University Professor of Political Science Edward Morgan, co-organizer of this year’s talk. “I can think of no better speaker to address our current condition on this subject."
The Rocco J. Tresolini Lectureship in Law was established in 1978, in memory of one of Lehigh’s most distinguished teachers and scholars, Rocco Tresolini (1920-1967), who served as professor and chair of the department of government.
West will be the latest in a long line of luminaries to deliver the Tresolini Lecture, including veteran journalist Bill Moyers, who delivered last year’s lecture on the flickering flame of democracy to a packed house. Previous speakers include former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, former Vietnam War-era strategic analyst Daniel Ellsberg, Presumed Innocent author Scott Turow, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, former Watergate-era White House Counsel John Dean, Bush v. Gore attorney David Boies and Innocence Project founder Barry Scheck.
A champion for justice
A champion for racial justice since childhood, West’s writing, speaking and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics and jazz. He burst onto the national scene in 1993 with his bestselling book, Race Matters, a searing analysis of racism in American democracy. Race Matters has become a contemporary classic, selling more than a half a million copies to date. In 1993, he was the recipient of the American Book Award.
