ANNUAL COMMEMORATIVE LUNCHEON AND AWARD IN HONOR OF ROSA PARKS

Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a White man on a Montgomery, Alabama Bus on December 1st. 1955 provided the impetus for the Modern Civil Rights Movement and earned her the title of “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” Following her death in 2005, the Rowan UniversityAfricana Studies Program established an Annual Commemorative Luncheon and Award to honor her legacy, which has had worldwide impact in the struggle for freedom, social justice, and democratic participation.

Rosa Parks Award Recipients:

February 28, 2013

February 29, 2012, Dr. Erik S. McDuffie, Associate Professor in the Department of Black American Studies and the Department of History at the University of Delaware, guest speaker at Rowan University's seventh annual commemorative luncheon for Rosa Parks. Special Rosa Parks Award presented to Dr. Corann Okorodudu.

February 21, 2011, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Professor of African American Studies at Temple University, guest speaker and honoree at Rowan University's sixth annual commemorative luncheon for Rosa Parks.

February 22, 2010 [ View Luncheon Archive ], Christina Swarns, director of the NAACP's Legal Defense & Education Fund's Criminal Justice Project, guest speaker and honoree at Rowan University's fifth annual commemorative luncheon for Rosa Parks.

February 23, 2009 [ View Luncheon Archive ], Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the NAACP and the 40th Anniversary of the Rowan EOF/MAP Programs. Award Recipients:

• Dr. Herbert Douglas, Professor of Law & Justice and the first director of the Rowan University EOF/MAP Program
• Mrs. Diane Wilson Welburn, CEO, Welburn Management Consulting Company and Distinguished EOF/MAP Alumna

February 19, 2008, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, NJ General Assembly 15th Legislative District & Former Chairperson of the NJ Democratic State Committee; lecture title: “Breaking Barriers and Fighting for Justice: The Enduring Crusade for Change in America, 52 Years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.”

February 19, 2007, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social thought and Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania & former Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; lecture title: “Whatever Happened To The Civil Rights Movement.”

February 15, 2006, Reverend Dr. James Donald Rice, Paster & Civil Rights Leader; lecture title: “Reflections on Rosa Parks & the Civil Rights Movement.”