The Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III Distinguished Lecture Series in Education, Faith, and Social Justice

The inaugural Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III Distinguished Lecture in Education, Faith, and Social Justice will feature Jelani Cobb, Ph.D., dean and professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and Nikole Hannah-Jones, professor at Howard University and creator of the 1619 Project. Distinguished activist and scholar Marc Lamont Hill, Ph.D., presidential professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center, will moderate the conversation.

The event is presented by the Abyssinian Baptist Church and the Fordham University Graduate School of Education (GSE). Additional participants include Fordham President Tania Tetlow and José Luis Alvarado, Ph.D., dean and professor at GSE.

The series is part of Fordham’s deepening investment in public impact research, educational opportunity, and social justice in higher education. It is funded by Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning through a faculty-led initiative grant, with the aim to engage every member of the University as active citizens in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights, and respect for the environment.

The event is co-sponsored by the Abyssinian Faith & Education Ministry; Fordham’s Black Education: Faith, Race, and Educational Equity project, led by Phillip A. Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor at GSE; and Fordham’s Center for Community Engaged Learning.

This lecture series was established to pay homage to the late Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, longtime pastor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, as a leader who worked to advance the economic, educational, spiritual, and social landscape in America.