OXFORD,
Miss. – Cultural clashes and connections both foreign and domestic will
be the focus during the second annual meeting of the William Winter
Institute for Racial Reconciliation March 27-28 at the University of
Mississippi.
The gathering opens Friday with representatives
from the Kettering Foundation presenting “Public Thinking on Racial and
Ethnic Tensions: Russia-U.S. Comparisons.” Start time for the public
event is 2 p.m. in the Overby Center Auditorium.
“The purpose of
the annual meeting is to thank our friends and supporters as we
highlight our ongoing community work,” said Susan Glisson, Winter
Institute director. “Based on last year’s attendance, we’re expecting
at least 100 people to come.”
A banquet is scheduled for 6:30
p.m. Friday in Johnson Commons Ballroom. The public is invited to all
gatherings during the weekend; however, anyone planning to attend the
banquet must RSVP to wwirr@olemiss.edu. An advisory board meeting
Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 200 of the Lyceum closes the event.
Rose
Jackson Flenorl of Memphis, current and first African-American
president of the UM Alumni Association, is the banquet’s keynote
speaker. Frank Mitchener Jr. of Sumner and Leroy Clemons of
Philadelphia will make special presentations.
“Both Frank and Leroy are sharing briefly about their attempts to build better race relations in their respective communities,” Glisson said. “Rose has seen and helped the evolution of the university, which gives her a unique perspective on its progress in race relations.”
Flenorl is manager of social responsibility at FedEx. As an Ole Miss student, she was the first African-American to be elected a Campus Favorite, the first African-American president of the Association for Women Students and the first African-American female named to the Student Hall of Fame. Later, she was the first African-American female to be inducted into UM’s Alumni Hall of Fame. She became the first African-American president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association last fall.
Mitchener serves on the board of directors of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission of Tallahatchie County. The commission, established by the county’s board of supervisors for the purpose of fostering racial harmony and reconciliation, seeks funds and grants to restore the Tallahatchie County Courthouse and to promote educational tours of the courthouse and other sites in the county.
A former National Cotton Council president, Mitchener serves on the NCC’s board of directors as an adviser. He is an emeriti chairman of the board of trustees of Rhodes College. He has served as as alderman for the Town of Sumner for more than 40 years.
Clemons is the Neshoba County NAACP President. He co-chaired the Philadelphia Coalition, a multiracial group of concerned local citizens that called for justice in the case of three civil rights workers murdered in Neshoba County in 1964. As a result of the coalition’s efforts, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted of the killings in 2005.
The Kettering Foundation seeks to identify and address the challenges of making democracy work as it should through six interrelated program areas: public choice, community, public education, institutions, government and international. The foundation is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with other offices located in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
For more information on the Winter Institute, visit http://www.winterinstitute.org or call 662-915-6734.