TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - An Indiana native currently serving as general counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will be the keynote speaker at Indiana State University's Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Commemoration Dinner.
The dinner will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, in Hulman Memorial Student Union, Dede I.
As general counsel, Dennis Hayes directs the NAACP legal department in its representation of NAACP and its more than 500,000 members.
Hayes attended the segregated Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, later desegregated because of the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision. In 1973, he received a bachelor of science degree in history from Indiana University-Bloomington and his juris doctorate in 1977 from Indiana University School of Law.
From his private practice of law in Indianapolis, where he specialized in civil rights litigation, the NAACP recruited Hayes in 1985 as an associate in its New York headquarters legal department and in 1990, selected him to serve as its chief legal officer.
Hayes has had a lifelong commitment to public interest causes. In addition to his duties at the NAACP, he contributed his talents to board or committee responsibilities for the American Judicature Society, the Public Justice Center of Baltimore, and the Columbia Sportsmen's Association in Maryland. He is a contributing author of publications, ranging from magazine articles to civil rights training materials.
This annual event, hosted by ISU's African American Cultural Center, honors King, promotes brotherhood and reflects on the contributions that King and the civil rights movement have had on our society.
Tickets for the dinner are $20 per person or $160 for tables of eight. Reservations can be made by calling Julia Bruce at (812) 237-3811 by Friday, Jan. 5, 2007.
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Contact: Julia Bruce, African American Cultural Center, 812.237.3811 or slfbruce@isugw.indstate.edu
Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, 812.237.3783 or devmeyer@isugw.indstate.edu