>Fauntroy to address IUSB's Conversations on Race Nov. 19

Fauntroy to address IUSB's Conversations on Race Nov. 19

By Kevin MacDonald

The Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former congressman, will deliver the keynote address at Indiana University South Bend's third annual Conversations on Race, scheduled Nov. 19. His speech will be at 7 p.m. in Northside Hall's Main Auditorium.

In 1971, Fauntroy became the District of Columbia's first elected representative in the United States Congress since the brief service of Norton P. Chipman a century earlier.

The university is partnering with the South Bend Tribune and the South Bend Community School Corp. to sponsor the event. Last year, IUSB's Conversations on Race was recognized by President Bill Clinton as a "Promising Practice." (See Web site at end of story.)

The event is a dialogue exploring race-related issues through workshops and roundtable discussions. Faculty, staff, students and community leaders serve as facilitators of the discussions, which are open to the public.

This year's Conversations will once again focus on African-American racial, cultural and societal issues as it did in its 1997 inaugural year. Charlotte Pfeifer, director of campus diversity, said the focus was decided upon because social climate dictates that IUSB continue to use the forum to examine how society deals with racial tensions between blacks and whites.

Fauntroy was elected to 10 terms in the House and served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He also was a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement, serving as coordinator of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., and later focused his activities on revitalizing impoverished neighborhoods and communities as coordinator of the 1968 Poor People's Campaign, and as founder of the Shaw Urban Renewal Project in Washington, D.C.

Currently, he is president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable and has been pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., since 1959.

Fauntroy's selection was made based on his active stance in addressing economic issues in relation to race and socioeconomic status, Pfeifer said. "If we don't deal with the economic imbalance in society, there will be big problems that will impact poor white people as well as poor black people," she said. "So it's fitting that we're getting Rev. Fauntroy this year."

For more information, contact Pfeifer at 219-237-6535 or Paul Schnur at 219-237-4879.