ANNOUNCEMENT

Black History Month: Beverly Tatum’s insights inspire discussions

DATE: Friday, Jan. 30, 2004

EVENT: Spelman University President Beverly Tatum, whose book "Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race," will be available for media interviews Friday afternoon. Her book highlights one of the central issues in a campus-wide discussion on race relations. Tatum, who earned her psychology doctorate from the University of Michigan, is considered a national expert on race relations in the classroom and the development of racial identity.

Her book tackles a theme frequently debated by students during U-M’s semester-long series of events marking the 50th anniversary of the famous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling.

The famous landmark desegregation case, whose legacy has impacted numerous access-to-public education cases, including U-M’s own 2003 affirmative action ruling, is being celebrated throughout winter term through a series of events and a Brown theme semester. Tatum’s book is being read and discussed by groups of readers throughout the region as part of Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads. She will be in the area for a book signing Friday before returning to campus March 25 for an address with Gary Orfield, co-director of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, entitled "School Desegregation in the 21st Century: Fulfilling the Promise of Brown".

PLACE: Tatum will meet with students on the U-M campus in Ann Arbor Friday afternoon.

e-mail jserwach@umich.edu