Charlayne Hunter-Gault will discuss the current conditions of colleges and universities in a Q&A with the 11th president of Spelman College at the 2024 Holmes-Hunter Lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

 

Hunter-Gault, who gave the lecture in 2018, will speak with Helene Gayle, as they discuss memories of Hamilton Holmes Sr. and race relations in higher education. Holmes and Hunter-Gault were the first Black students to attend the university and are the namesakes of the Holmes-Hunter Lecture.

 

“I think that just as the university was available to me to achieve my dreams and to Hamilton to achieve his dreams, I think it's a place that students in Georgia can come and achieve their dreams,” Hunter-Gault said. 

 

The event will be at 2 p.m. in the Chapel at the University of Georgia in a conversational format, instead of the usual lecture format. Hunter-Gault explained that when Gayle was invited to present, she was always going to make it a Q&A like Holmes’ wife and daughter did when they presented in 2022. 

 

Hunter-Gault graduated from Grady College in 1963 with a journalism degree and has become a renowned journalist and civil rights activist, often returning to speak and give back to her alma mater. 

 

She and her husband established a program to provide grants to students called Giving Voice to the Voiceless, in which she promotes the importance of social justice in future generations. 

 

“I’m hoping that the efforts my husband and I started, Giving Voice to the Voiceless, will also help young students who want to do the right thing, who want to go out and help people who don’t have a voice, get a voice,” Hunter-Gault said. 

 

Hunter-Gault encourages students to learn from the past to create positive change for the future. This philosophy is shared with the Office of the President, as it has sponsored the annual event that focuses on race relations and Black history since 1985. 

 

Topics: Holmes-Hunter, Office of the President, diversity, Charlyne Hunter-Gault, Grady College