FREE SPEECH 35: Stefan Bradley on Upending the Ivory Tower

Who were the first Black students enrolled at American universities? How did they win the fight for more equal opportunities, fair access, and comprehensive curricula? Today's elite institutions claim a genuine commitment to our nation's fundamental ideals of equality and free inquiry, but getting there required their courage and sacrifice. Stefan Bradley, Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and author of Upending the Ivory Tower: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Ivy League, details how Black students fought for access, equality and opportunity in institutions that play important actual and symbolic roles in America. The students' work on campus is as important as the work of Civil Rights activists in the streets in forging a better reality for all Americans.