Union College welcomed Morris Dees, co-founder and chief trial counselor of Southern Poverty Law Center, to the Nott Memorial Monday as the inaugural event in the Presidential Forum on Diversity.
Dees, who has made a career of combating hate groups and taking on heated, controversial issues presented his talk “Voice of Hope and Tolerance” to several hundred members of the campus and community.
In a soft-spoken southern drawl, Dees said he found his calling at a young age when a school teacher voiced the words: “One nation…with liberty, and justice for all.”
He spoke for nearly an hour, then answered questions from the audience.
Southern Poverty Law Center is a non-profit group specializing in lawsuits involving civil rights violations, domestic terrorism and racially-motivated crimes. Dees and his associates have successfully battled and dismantled a series of hate groups including the Aryan Nation and Ku Klux Klan and have secured huge criminal, civil and financial judgments against them.
Dees, a staunch supporter of education about civil rights and the civil rights movement, was instrumental in the creation of the Civil Rights Memorial in Mobile, Ala. He has been named the Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for his efforts as an attorney and activist, and has received the National Education Association's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award.
Last month, College President Stephen C. Ainlay announced the creation of the Presidential Forum on Diversity where issues of campus culture are brought into the open. Monday's event was sponsored by the Speakers Forum, the President's Office and the Dean of Students Office.