Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Take Your Seats, the Ceremony Is About to Begin. Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Welcome Th
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Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats, the ceremony is about to begin. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of Georgia State University, Dr. Mark Becker. President Becker: Good afternoon! Good Afternoon! There we go! And welcome to Georgia State University's inaugural Groundbreaker Lecture. Shortly, Provost Wendy Hensel will share with you the genesis of this lecture series and take us into the introduction of our speaker, Dr. Maurice Daniels. Dr. Daniels, we're delighted to have you provide the inaugural Groundbreaker Lecture, thank you. Well, welcome to all Georgia State University students, staff and faculty in attendance, as well as guests to our university, whether this is your first ever visit to our campus, or a return visit. Today, we also have members of the Georgia general Assembly joining us today, and we thank you for your service to the state and are honored by your presence. Most importantly, today we welcome Mrs. Myra Payne Elliott and the family of Barbara Pace Hunt. You're the reasons we're here today. And we're thrilled to have you with us. The lessons of history are frequently illuminating, and sometimes shocking and painful. Often, it is said that we must learn from history so as not to repeat it. While that is true, it is equally important to know our history so that we can recognize and appreciate our progress. And I am sorry that this university, Georgia State University, ever was a segregated institution, and I am sorry that the women we will honor this afternoon had to go through the trials and tribulations that our speaker will share with you. They, however, have left a profound mark on Georgia State University, and thereby, changed the course, not only of this institution, but the course of history, and thereby for all of American higher education. There is no denying our troubled past. Just as there is no denying that, today, Georgia State University is a national model for leveling the unjust playing field that our honorees fought so hard to change. Today, Georgia State University, once segregated and forced to integrate by the U.S. Federal Courts, is the largest and most diverse university in the state of Georgia, one of the largest and most diverse universities in this nation, graduates more African-American bachelor degree students than anyone else in the nation, and perhaps, most importantly, has eliminated all disparities in graduation rates based on race, ethnicity or income. We were the first in the nation to do so, and by doing so our faculty, staff, and students have proven that the disparities that have for far too long been the status quo in American higher education, are not only unacceptable, but also can and must be eliminated, and that you can do so while also increasing access and rising to new levels of excellence. I am so proud of every member of this university community, and how far we have come and grown as a university. And I thank Provost Wendy Hensel for her leadership in conceiving of and creating the Groundbreaker's Lecture Series, and for bringing us to this important launch moment. At this time, it gives me great pleasure to invite Provost Hensel to the podium to introduce the series to you. Provost Hensel: Good afternoon! Thank you, President Becker, and thanks to everyone who came out on this beautiful day to witness this amazing moment in our history and share it with all of us. Back in October, President Becker and I first learned of the three brave women we will talk of today: Myra Payne Elliott, Barbara Pace Hunt, and Iris Mae Welch, who led the fight to integrate Georgia State University. Theirs is a story of courage, a story of hope, a story of tenacity in the face of tremendous opposition and sacrifice that came at a significant personal cost. We knew we had to do something special to honor these women, and immediately started brainstorming how we might do that, especially recognizing that the legacy goes far beyond the university--it goes to the state and to higher education as a whole. Today, I am thrilled to announce and launch this lecture series, The Groundbreaker's Lecture series, that's in your honor Mrs. Elliott, and the memories of the two other women as well. Groundbreakers among us are the trailblazers, they're the pioneers. They're the leaders who, through their courageous actions, have had a major impact on our society, bringing about significant, lasting and fundamental change. The women we honor today are absolutely deserving of that title, and this lecture series will forevermore honor their contributions, your contribution, by creating an ongoing opportunity on an annual basis to have important, often difficult, conversations about profoundly meaningful topics in our world. So while you and your colleagues experience these events firsthand, today their story will come alive for the rest of us through the excellent and extensively researched book, Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State, authored by our speaker today, Dr. Maurice Daniels. Our own Dr. Maurice Hobson, associate professor of African-American studies, knows Dr. Daniels well, and I invite him up to the stage at this time to introduce our speaker. Dr. Hobson: Good afternoon. On this afternoon, I have the honor and pleasure of introducing the keynote speaker for the inaugural Groundbreaker Lecture, Dr. Maurice Daniels. A native Georgian, Dr. Daniels grew up between Cordele and Rochelle, Georgia, where his parents were educators. His father served as principal of Excelsior High School. During his childhood, Dr. Daniels would hear his elders speak of civil rights giants, such as Attorney Donald Lee Hollowell, Attorney Austin Tomace Walden, Attorney and later Judge, Horace Ward, who challenged the state of Georgia by filing civil rights court cases to support civil and human rights for all Georgians. This greatly impacted his outlook on life. The frigid nature of Cold War posturing between the Soviet Union and the United States greatly impacted his education. During his high school years, he, along with his older brother, attended a program at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana, funded by the National Science Foundation, as a result of the Soviet Sputnik launch. This launch made it clear that it was necessary to produce more scientists and engineers. Because of the stench of segregation in the United States, in general, and the American South, in particular, black students from the American South were pipelined to large Northern and Midwestern universities in the generation prior to Dr. Daniels. The "Out-of-State Scholarship Program for Negroes" set the stage for a continuation of this pipeline, after the program ended in the 1950s. Upon graduating from high school, Dr. Daniels enrolled as an undergraduate student at Indiana University. There he was active in campus organizations, such Omega Psi Fi fraternity. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, a master's degree in social work, and a doctorate in education--higher education and administration from Indiana University. He is the author of several award-winning manuscripts, including: Saving the Soul of Georgia, Donald Lee Hollowell and the struggle for civil rights, and Horace T. Ward's desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights advocacy, and juris prudence. He is also the senior researcher and executive producer of five public television documentaries. His research expands the literature surrounding the long civil rights movement. For eleven years, Dr. Daniels served as dean of the school of social work at the University of Georgia, where he advanced the interdisciplinary scholarship and social justice through the development of new degrees, endowed professorships, and a research center. On today, he will present his findings in his new manuscript titled: "Ground Crew: The Fight to End Segregation at Georgia State." This book not only contributes to the social and legal histories that embodies what historians call the long civil rights movement. Dr. Daniels gives us a history that demonstrates the significance of the role of black women in the modern civil and human rights movement. As a point of privilege, I'd like to tell you all something. I teach a course here on this campus titled the "History of African Americans in Georgia." And I was reader for this manuscript. After my initial reading, I realized that not only did I need to revamp the readings for this course, but Dr. Daniels scholarship has prompted me to create new courses in our department curriculum. In the Fall of 2020, I will present a proposal for a course titled "the Black Experience at Georgia State University," that will further chronicle and detail the experiences of African-descended faculty, staff and students at our beloved Georgia State University. Dr. Maurice Daniels life's work has centered on giving a voice to those black people from the state of Georgia that the world has not heard. He is a true scholar and a gentleman. So, my Georgia State University family, we have a scholar and gentleman before us, let's welcome him with a big GSU Panther applause. Presenting to some and introducing to others, my friend and brother, Dr. Maurice Daniels. Dr. Daniels: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am a member of the Baptist church so, if you wanna keep standing I'm gonna pass around a collection tray. Thank you, Doctor. and Brother Hobson for your very generous introduction. To President Becker, Provost Hensel, faculty, staff and students, other distinguished guests: my deepest thanks to the president and the provost for creating this lecture series and inviting me to serve as the inaugural speaker.