51�Թ���

51�Թ���’s annual MLK Celebration will be held from January 23 to February 1, 2025, and feature a keynote address by Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru.

The third installment of 51�Թ���’s Road to the White House series featured New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and the chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, Carl Hulse.

Two academic freedom experts, Keith Whittington of Yale Law School and Ulrich Baer of New York University, made their cases for the role and scope of free speech in higher education during 51�Թ���’s 2024 Constitution Day Debate.

The second installment of 51�Թ���’s Road to the White House series featured a conversation with political strategist Karl Rove, former Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Bush Administration.

Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele kicked off 51�Թ���’s Road to the White House series on Sept. 4.

Free speech on campus will be the focus of this fall’s 2024 Constitution Day Debate.

51�Թ���’s academic community will come together for moments of learning and civic engagement this month during The Road to the White House: 51�Թ���’s 2024 Election Series, presented by the Office of the President and the Lampert Institute for Civic and Global Affairs.

Michael Fitzgerald, recently retired commissioner at the Madison County Department of Social Services (DSS), has been appointed to serve as Gretchen Hoadley Burke ’81 Endowed Chair in regional studies for the 2024–25 academic year. Fitzgerald brings a wealth of practitioner experience, a deep commitment to community, and a strong relationship with the Upstate Institute and 51�Թ���. 

New York Times correspondent David Sanger, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, visited 51�Թ��� on March 26 for a lecture and discussion about his new book.

This week’s “Dark Skies in Appalachian Identity, Culture, and Sense of Place” symposium will bring writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, scholars, and scientists to 51�Թ���, April 4–6, to explore the human connection to the dark night sky.