Former attorney joins IU faculty

The last original civil rights attorney in America has come to IU. \nAlvin Chambliss Jr. is best known for the 30-year-old case in the U.S. Supreme Court on a certiorari filed for Ayers v. Barbour and the battle over support for Mississippi's historically black colleges. \nChambliss, a distinguished visiting professor at IU, will now teach at the School of Education and in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, according to a statement released by IU Media Relations.\nSophomore Lauren Lindsay thinks it is phenomenal that a person of such stature will be teaching among already prestigious IU faculty members.\n"As a University, it is an honor to have someone so highly esteemed. As a minority, he represents what he teaches," Lindsay said.\nIn a statement, Frank Motley, IU associate vice chancellor for academic support and former dean of admissions at the School of Law said Chambliss is uniquely situated and qualified to share with IU students the "nuts and bolts" issues in education as well as social welfare and civil rights.\nChambliss grew up in Columbia, Miss., as one of 12 children. Though he grew up in a poorer home, with support from his family, especially his grandmother, Chambliss earned degrees from Jackson State University and Howard University School of Law and the University of California Berkeley.\nChambliss' mentors include Lawrence Guyot, Howard Moore and Thurgood Marshall.\nThe Ayers case shot Chambliss into limelight in 1975 when the late Jack Ayers Sr. sued the state of Mississippi for neglecting its black universities.\n"The desegregation of elementary and secondary education resulted in the firing of black teachers, the closing of schools and the total obliteration of many of the black communities all across the South. We were filing a lawsuit not to necessarily desegregate in the sense that we would close schools. We filed the lawsuit for equalization of all allocation of resources, such that our schools would be able to attract other race schools," Chambliss said in a statement.\nChambliss said though Bloomington is not one of the most liberal places, Hoosiers are dedicated to being open.\nSophomore Cameron Mayberry sees the potential for growth in diversity at IU as well. "The school talks about diversity. But the classrooms and dorms are racial. There is about one in a 100 highly regarded individuals like Chambliss that can really make a difference if they take proper steps," he said. "I would like to take his class."\n-- Contact staff writer Hina Alam at halam@indiana.edu.