Civil Rights Icon and former UN Ambassador to speak at The University of Toledo

The Edwards Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series will welcome Civil Rights icon and former UN Ambassador Andrew Young to speak at Savage Arena Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7pm.

“This year’s Shapiro lecture features Andrew Young, a living legend in the struggle for racial and social justice in the United States and an activist for humanitarian issues around the world,” wrote Jamie Barlowe, dean of The College of Arts and Letters.

Young was born in New Orleans, where he was forced to leave in order to attend a segregated school. Barlowe said that Young was an excellent student who went to college early and graduated from Howard University at the age of 19.

“His presence on our campus is an opportunity for students to hear directly from him and to be inspired and challenged to carry on the work for racial and social justice and human rights,” Barlowe wrote. “This is particularly important in today’s world of political and social unrest.”

As a politician, Young fought for social and racial justice internationally as well.

“In the 1970s he was elected to Congress, becoming the first African-American representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction,” Barlowe wrote. “He was appointed as the first African-American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. In that position he worked to end white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe”

Continuing his list of achievements, Barlowe wrote that Young became the mayor of Atlanta in 1981. He wrote several books and founded the Andrew Young Foundation, which supports and promotes education, leadership and human rights in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. He received many awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the NAACP Springarn Medal.

Young will speak for 40-45 minutes followed by a question and answer session.