Member of Little Rock 9 to speak tonight

At age 15, his courage changed the face of public education. On Sept. 25, 1957, he and eight other black students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.\nTerrance Roberts will be lecturing from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. Roberts will talk about educational issues and desegregation in the public school system. The event is free and open to the public.\nTiffany Combs, program coordinator for the Vice President of Institutional Development and Student Affairs said that Roberts' lecture appropriately falls on the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine's desegregation of Central High School.\n"The lecture is part of (IU's) Black History Month program," Combs said, "Roberts will be speaking on issues about desegregation, diversity, minorities in higher education and the importance of Black History Month."\nCombs emphasized the historical relevance of the actions of the Little Rock Nine.\nAccording to the Little Rock Nine Foundation Web site, Roberts and other high school students challenged social norms and decided to uphold the decision of the Supreme Court's groundbreaking 1954 case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, which banned racial segregation in schools. \nIU law professor Kevin D. Brown said in a press release that schools have actually been experiencing resegregation for the past 15 years, further separating blacks and Latinos from whites. \nRoberts will be addressing this trend as well as issues of desegregation that have been practiced for many years in public education, Combs said.\nCombs encouraged members of the general public to attend the lecture.\n"We would like to see students, staff, faculty and the community come out to the event," she said.\nCombs said that Roberts will be the only member of the Little Rock Nine coming to IU because scheduling conflicts prevented others from attending.\n"We would have liked to have more members come to speak, but they are all busy and have other speaking engagements," Combs said.\nTimberly Carter, a graduate student assistant for the Vice President of Institutional Development and Student Affairs, said that the event is significant because it allows students to reflect on progress in the educational system.\n"I think it is important to talk about integration because we are a public institution," Carter said. "Because of where we are (with integration at IU) right now, we need to look at the struggles they went through and appreciate what they did."\nTo learn more about this and other events planned for Black History Month, visit www.indiana.edu/~bhm/events.html for more information.