Alabama State University News September 7, 2012 Bridge Builders Series Features Renowned Civil Rights Attorney The ASU Center for Leadership and Public Policy's next Bridge Builders Breakfast will feature nationally known civil rights attorney, Morris Dees. The breakfast will be held Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 a.m. at the RSA Activity Center, 201 Dexter Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. Dees is the co-founder and chief counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which is best known for its innovative lawsuits that have financially crippled some of America's most notorious white supremacist hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan. Before founding the SPLC in 1971, Dees had a successful legal career and owned a direct sales and book publishing company that he launched while still a student at the University of Alabama, where he also obtained a law degree. After launching a law practice in Montgomery in 1960, he won a series of groundbreaking civil rights cases that helped integrate government and public institutions. He also served as finance director for former President Jimmy Carter's campaign in 1976 and for Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972. Dees has received more than 20 honorary degrees and numerous awards, including Trial Lawyer of the Year from Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award from the National Education Association and The Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice. He was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal in 2006. In addition, the University of Alabama Law School and the New York law firm Skadden, Arps jointly created the annual Morris Dees Justice Award to honor a lawyer devoted to public service. Dees has written three books, "A Season For Justice," his autobiography; "Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi;" and "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat." In 1991, NBC aired a made-for-TV movie called "Line of Fire" about Dees and his landmark legal victories against the Ku Klux Klan. Previous Bridge Builders Breakfast speakers have included prominent Montgomery trial lawyer and former Alabama Lt. Governor, Jere Beasley; Alabama Governor Robert Bentley; former speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives and director of the Alabama Development Office, Seth Hammett; former U.S. Congressman Bobby Bright; former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington; and RSA director David Bronner. For more information, contact ASU's Center for Leadership and Public Policy at 334- 229-6019. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-520-0593 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.