Thurs., 2/2/12: Big Men on Campus

Big Men on Campus

We’re looking at race relations by way of the new book, Fraternity, by Diane Brady. In the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in 1968, Rev. John E. Brooks, an educator at the College of the Holy Cross, decided the college needed to recruit black students. Among the 20 black students Brooks recruited were Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, NFL wide receiver Eddie Jenkins, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Edward P. Jones, Wall Street executive Stanley Grayson, and defense attorney Ted Wells. "Fraternity" is a story of trust, with Father Brooks as the unifying force, who– to this day- is a mentor to these men. In the words of Ted Wells, the men were in college to learn the skills that would “destroy a sick society’’ and replace it with one dedicated to liberty and justice for all.

GUESTS:
  Diane Brady, journalist for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, author of "Fraternity"
  Eddie Jenkins, former NFL wide receiver, chief diversity and civil rights officer for MassDOT
  Arthur Martin, College of the Holy Cross graduate (‘70), founder of the Black Student Union at Holy Cross