Clarence B. Jones Named University’s First-Ever Diversity Scholar
SAN FRANCISCO (Aug. 17, 2012) – Clarence Benjamin
Jones Sr., a former speechwriter, attorney, and advisor to the late Martin
Luther King Jr., has been named the first-ever Diversity Scholar at the
University of San Francisco, and will teach an undergraduate course this fall
titled “From Slavery to Obama.”
“This course is fundamentally a
tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., my beloved friend and
colleague, whose extraordinary leadership transformed America,” Jones said. “It
is designed to enable honest and critical discussion of race in our country. “I
look forward to engaging USF students in dynamic conversation and exploring ways
they can use their knowledge to change the world for the better.”
“Dr. Jones is a living legend, and
this is a remarkable opportunity for our students,” said Mary J. Wardell,
associate vice provost for Diversity Engagement and Community Outreach. “As an internationally
recognized leader in the civil rights movement, Dr. Jones brings an unmatched
level of experience to the classroom.”
Wardell’s office is sponsoring Jones’
semester-long appointment, and will sponsor a new scholar each year whose work
reflects USF’s commitment to social justice.
Jones, a product of early childhood Catholic education himself, is co-author
of “What Would Martin Say?” and “Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that
Transformed a Nation.” In 1967, he became the first African American to become
a partner in a Wall Street investment-banking firm, and in 1999, he was awarded
White House Letter of Commendation by President Bill Clinton for his 1963 civil
rights work in Birmingham, Alabama.
Jones was the chief negotiator
during the 1971 Attica uprisings and massacre, his timely copyright of King’s
“I Have a Dream” speech provided intellectual property protection to that
historic document, and he personally smuggled out the “Letter From Birmingham
Jail” on toilet and other scraps of paper.
Jones will teach “From Slavery to
Obama” to USF undergraduates, adapting it from a graduate seminar he taught at
Stanford University. It will include readings, lectures, and guest speakers,
focusing on the people
and events that shaped America’s efforts to abolish slavery, address its
historical consequences, and create a society based on racial equality.
The course has a lengthy reading list, including:
- Kenneth Stampp’s “Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the
Ante-Bellum South” (1956)
- James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” (1963)
- Tim Wise’s “Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and
White Denial in the Age of Obama” (2009)
- W.E.B DuBois’ classic work “Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880”
(1935)
For his extraordinary work, the
University of San Francisco awarded Jones with an honorary doctoral degree in
Dec. 2011.
