January 05, 2010

Contact:   Bill Giduz

Chief Justice Henry Frye

Davidson College invites the public to attend a full day of activities on Monday, Jan. 18, in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. Featured guests for the event will be former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye and Charlotte's new mayor, 1993 Davidson graduate Anthony Foxx.

Frye holds a long list of "firsts" in the state. In 1968 he became the first African-American to serve in the N.C. House of Representatives in the twentieth century. He served there a dozen years, and then was a state Senator for two years. In 1983 he was appointed by Governor Jim Hunt as the first African-American to serve on the N.C. Supreme Court. In 1999 Gov. Hunt appointed him as Chief Justice -- another first. Frye served in that post for two years, and currently practices law in Greensboro.

Chief Justice Frye will present the keynote speech at a Community Convocation from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room. An hour-long community reception featuring performances from Davidson's a cappella groups will follow.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx '93

Foxx will host a "fireside chat" from 3 to 4:45 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room. Raised in Charlotte by his mother and grandparents, Foxx graduated from West Charlotte High School and enrolled in Davidson. He became the college's first African American student body president, and earned a bachelor's degree in history. He earned his law degree from New York University School of Law, and then held positions in all three branches of federal government. He was a judicial clerk for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit, a trial attorney for the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and counsel for the House Judiciary Committee.

Foxx returned to Charlotte and served on a number of boards, including the Mecklenburg County Education Budget Advisory Committee, the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Foundation Board and the North Carolina Dance Theatre Board. He was elected as an at-large member of Charlotte City Council in 2005, and was elected Mayor in November 2009.

There is no cost to participate in any of the day's events, which focus on the theme, "Realizing the Dream." They begin at 9:30 a.m. with a "Walk for Change" that starts and concludes on the front steps of Chambers Building. The walk will end with a reading of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

From 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room student volunteers will a host "King Day for Kids" program for children age kindergarten through fifth grade. Activities will focus on literacy, social justice, and community involvement, with children participating in small group readings, storytelling, and bookmaking. All participants will receive literacy-based goody bags. Parents interested in enrolling children in the program should RSVP by calling 704-894-2872.

The afternoon will feature three seminars in the Alvarez College Union that concern race and justice, and Foxx's fireside chat.

The three seminars will run concurrently from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.

• In Room 312 Assistant Professor of Education Hilton Kelly will lead a film and discussion titled "Like Being Untied and Tickled at the Same Time:  Remembering Legally Segregated Schools for Blacks." The presentation will consider the legacy of legally segregated schools for blacks and suggests new ways of thinking about today's resegregated schools. 

• In Room 302, 1995 Davidson graduate and journalist Issac J. Bailey will lead a session titled "Why I Don't Eat Watermelon in Front of White People Even in a Post-Racial World." The title is drawn from a book published by Bailey in 2009 concerning contemporary race relations. Bailey writes feature stories and a regular column for the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, and has won many awards for outstanding journalism from the South Carolina Press Association.

• In the Smith 900 Room three current Davidson students - Jesse Johnson, Darrell Scott and Justin Hua, along with Diversity Program Advisor Cristina Garcia, will lead a session titled "Check All that Apply: Examining the Complexities of Racial Identity as Forced by Societal Labeling." The discussion will focus on the terms society has chosen for labeling individuals based on ethnicity and race. College applications, employment applications, the Census and medical forms have long included identification by race, but some are changing. Participants will be asked talk about how changes are influencing societal interpretations of ethnicity and race. 

Mayor Foxx's fireside chat will be held from 3 to 4:45 p.m. in the Smith 900 Room.

The day's events will conclude in celebration with a Gospel Extravaganza beginning at 7 p.m. in Duke Family Performance Hall. Individuals and groups currently scheduled to perform are the Davidson College Gospel Choir, Fresh Anointing of Wingate, N.C., Rae Ellis of Charlotte, and Kabra Benford and Psalms 100 of Columbia, S.C. There will be a special guest appearance by Ivan Powell and Garment of Praise of Raleigh.

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,800 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.

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