CCSU has settled a lawsuit in which they, along with President Jack Miller, were accused of gender discrimination.

Marsha Bednarski, Rathika Rajaravivarma and Barbara Nicholson were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They accused the university and Miller of denying them tenure or promotions based on their gender. Rajaravivarma also claimed her race came into play as well.

The plaintiffs also alleged that CCSU did not properly retain files that the American Association of University Professors union asked them to. The files that were to be preserved were in regards to all the 2005-2006 promotion and tenure information. The preliminary report, written by Judge Warren Eginton, claims that CCSU did not follow proper protocol in this matter.

“Despite their ability to control the preservation of documents, defendants failed to place a litigation hold over the portfolios or to instruct applicants to preserve the documents for potential litigation,” as stated in the preliminary report. “As a result, the portfolios were destroyed, lost or altered. Defendants’ conduct constitutes gross negligence or at least negligence.”

Associate Vice President of Marketing & Communications Mark McLaughlin was able to confirm that the state Board of Regents did okay the decision to settle in this particular lawsuit.

Bednarski and Nicholson claimed that they were unreasonably denied promotion in the academic year 2005-2006 from associate to full professor. President Miller denied both of their applications despite the Department Evaluation Committee, Dean Susan Pease and the Promotion and Tenure Committee recommending the plaintiffs.

Miller gave several reasons for his decision including Nicholson’s “student evaluations to be average” and her “teaching to be adequate but not very strong.” He also cited multiple reasons for Bednarski’s request being declined including “her teaching to be average at best” and “teaching evaluations that showed no evidence of excellence.”

Rajaravivarma, who applied for promotion and tenure, also received recommendations from the DEC, Dean Pease and the PTC. Miller did not however agree and declined her request citing “the quality of her work in the load credit category insufficient to justify tenure and promotion.”

After the plaintiff’s denials, the AAUP filed a grievance on behalf of them and one other female professor. Dean Pease was asked to review the portfolios and recommended promotion for Bednarski and Nicholson but not tenure or promotion for Rajaravivarma.

Miller reconsidered his prior decisions, he chose not to alter them except in the case of the other female professor who is not a member of the plaintiffs.

The CCSU Affirmative Action office conducted investigations into the plaintiffs’ discrimination accusations but did not find enough evidence to support their claims. However, Judge Eginton said otherwise in his report.

“In this instance, plaintiffs have satisfied their minimal burden to show prima facie case,” wrote Judge Eginton. “Plaintiffs have submitted statistical evidence that President Miller recommended significantly more male candidates for promotion than women; and evidence that he recommended for promotion and tenure certain Caucasian, male applicants who had not received favorable recommendation from the PTC or the relevant dean.”

Of the three plaintiffs, only Bednarski and Nicholson are still teaching at CCSU.

In the Judge Eginton’s conclusion in his report he denied the motion for summary judgement but however determined that the “spoliation of portfolio materials” was due to its content being unfavorable for the defendants.

The Faculty Senate passed a motion Monday that will require the athletic department to submit their annual state auditor’s report to the Faculty Senate, University Planning and Budget Committee and the SGA. They will also be forced to publish it on the University’s website.

Athletic Director Paul Schlickmann explained to the committee that he believes his department had already complied with this shortly after it was brought up at a Planning and Budget Committee meeting.

“As far as I can tell it’s been accomplished,” said Schlickmann. “Quite honestly it’s nothing new to what we do and what we are mandated to do on an annual basis relative to our finances. There are three reports that we have to complete on an annual basis that are public documents.”

Candace Barrington, President of the Senate, presented a report by Stephen Adair who serves on the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents. In his report he stated that the recent tuition increase will only be 3.3 percent for CCSU students despite the state average being 3.8.

The senate also passed changes that were proposed last semester that provide a provision to fill a vacancy if a senate officer leaves for a semester.

Another issue was brought up in relation to the athletic department motion. Guy Crundwell, a member of UPBC, voiced some of the reason behind the resolution the committee came up with. According to Crundwell, preliminary data shows that the athletic spending at CCSU is outweighing academic spending.

The committee also passed a motion asking for Crundwell, Schlickmann and another UPBC member to give a report at the Senate’s next meeting on whether or not athletic spending is overshadowing academic spending and if funding for athletic scholarships is coming out of CCSU’s general funds.

Edward Sarisley, Professor of Manufacturing and Construction Management, supported the motion for the athletic department to disclose their finances but also called for “total transparency throughout the university.”

“We need to as a group not wear blinders and see where our allocations are going and balance them,” said Sarisley. “We need to have total transparency from the athletic department, furthermore we need to address that some things cost more than others.”

Also at the meeting, Student Government Association President Eric Bergenn presented a report asking for help filling all of the Faculty Senate committees with students. Also in his report he said he was working on a survey directed towards students in regards to the General Education reform that is ongoing this semester. Bergenn and Faculty Senate ad hoc committee chair Robert Wolff are looking to get as much input as possible.

“I always knew that we would get help from the committee [who are] on committees but really it was just a friendly reminder that it’s something we’re working on right now,” said Bergenn after the meeting. “We appreciate the feedback we’ve been getting. We’ve been working real hard on getting these people there, but there’s a kind of a limit to what we can do right now.”

The next Faculty Senate meeting will take place on Feb. 13 in Vance Academic Center, room 105 at 3:05 pm.

Around the same time everyday, throughout the whole year, our campus booms with harps and bells coming from the Davidson Hall tower.

Everyone has heard it, whether it has brought them complete joy or has annoyed them as they walk through campus to class.

It can be assumed that up in the tower, a series of bells in collide with one another creating the famous melodies such as the “Nutcracker Suite” or “Brahm’s Lullaby,” but that is not the case.

“The Singing Tower,” made by the Verdin Company, has been on campus for more than 20 years with two different versions being purchased.

This electronic device can be found in an ordinary, locked closet in Davidson Hall and with just a push of a button, music is sent up to “horn-type” speakers that are located in the tower above.

Scott McKenna, director of Operational Logistics and Event Management has been overseeing the system for some time, operating the music box and updating it when needed.

“It’s really, really simple,” said McKenna next to the electronic device. “It’s simply a digital recording device that you program and it sends up to a speaker that is in the tower. You are just hearing a harp and bell combination.”

McKenna keeps an updated schedule of class times for the semester to determine just when he wants to set off the device. McKenna is able to do that by just a click of his mouse in his office.

“It adds a sense of ambiance to the campus,” said McKenna.

Although it may sound like the same songs are played every day, McKenna said that they are not. In his office, McKenna has a book full of hundreds of songs selected  by the music department and other committees on campus.

“It plays songs seasonally,” said McKenna. “However, out of the blue the “Nutcracker Suite” will start playing in the summer as well as a lullaby during finals, it’s all in good fun. It may seem like the same songs are played everyday, but they are different each day with the device going through the long list of songs.”

Aside from its daily schedule, McKenna will toll the bell for major events, in which he simply overrides the system by pressing a button.

McKenna also commented on how realistic the bells sound, even though it is just an electronic system.

“The quality of the sound is great,” said McKenna. “I haven’t changed it or updated it because of its fine quality.”

“The fact that it is just a bell is just odd, I thought that it would be a bell,” said Adam Goldstein, a senior. “To hear that it is a musical box kind of cheapens it for me. If I had a few more years here I’d even volunteer to ring the bells myself. I figured it would be easier to have regular bells, but maybe not.”

James McGowan, also a senior, said that he accepted that it is an electronic device due to how digitalized everything is in current society.

“The way that technology is now and how advanced it has become, it is probably a lot easier that it is computerized so it can be easier to manage it,” said McGowan. “It makes more sense now to have this box rather than a rusty old clock tower. The only weird thing is that Davidson is an old building and you would expect there to be bells.”

The state Board of Regents approved a tuition increase last Thursday of almost 4 percent for the CSU Schools as well as the twelve community colleges.

For students living on campus, there will be an increase of 3.7 percent, or about $676 where students commuting will face an increase of 3.8 percent, or $315. Community college students will pay 3.1 percent more, about $108.

According to Board of Regents President Robert Kennedy, the increase will go into effect for students entering the fall of 2012.

Kennedy says that the source of revenue for colleges and universities comes from state support and student tuition. He also said that even though no one wants to increase the cost of college tuition, this is the only option.

“For the past couple of years, state revenue has been dropping and the budgets provided by the states to the colleges have decreased as well,” said Kennedy. “Along with increase costs and declining state revenue, the only source of income for the colleges is tuition.”

At the Jan. 19 meeting, two student members of the board of regents opposed the increase. Alex Tetty Jr, Chairman of the Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee, voiced his opposition while Michael Fraser, vice-chair of the committee, said that the increase should be higher.

According to Kennedy, one of the main concerns that the board faced was where the money would go towards.

Kennedy said that the money from the tuition increase would be directed towards faculty and student support services, such as counseling, but the campuses will still get less money in their budgets.

In terms of there being a set limit on raising the tuition in the future, Kennedy said he was unsure of the possibility.

In the last several years, the increases have been lower than the historical average and the national average, according to Kennedy.

Last year, a 2.5 percent tuition increase was approved as well as a credit card transaction fee that created an additional 2.5 percent for a student using their card to pay for a bill. In 2010, there was a 5.6 increase for students living on campus and a 6.3 percent for commuter students in January that proceeded a tuition freeze in September that kept fees at the same level. In 2009, students saw a 5.3 percent increase in their tuition for the fall 2009 semester.

“The board expressed a strong support for keeping the tuition to a minimum,” said Kennedy. “We can’t really anticipate what the cost drivers are nor can we anticipate what the support from the state will be, so it has to be done on an annual basis. But from our discussion yesterday, we want to keep the tuition low.”

Kennedy said that some colleges across the country have made attempts to set a tuition limit, but had to back away due to the cost drivers that would affect them long term.

“A few years ago we sort of levered off, but when fuel prices and heating costs were going up in 2005-2006, it was really difficult to tell so it really needs to be done on an annual basis,” said Kennedy.

Student Government Association President Eric Bergenn and Treasurer Nick Alaimo are continuing to be active in working with the administration.

Alaimo is the CCSU representative on the Student Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents and was on the fence about the tuition increase.

“We want to keep the quality of our education high, but we still need to work within our means and be affordable,” said Alaimo. “I would like to see if we could be a part of the process in the future.”

President Bergenn said that Alaimo’s willingness to represent CCSU on the Board of Regents is very helpful.

“As to the tuition increase of 3.8 percent, it’s safe to say that no one wants to pay more for the same product they’ve been getting, but with cuts in state funding, it’s an inevitable reality if we want to keep the quality of the education we’re paying for the same,” said Bergenn. “We were expecting, from what Governor Malloy had proposed, a 2.5-3% increase as a result of the cut in state funding.”

Bergenn also said that there are other actions that students can take in order to try to alleviate the cost of education.

“We could be at the state house working with representatives and lobbying for more higher education funding. We could be working more closely with our representative in the Senate of the SGA, Faculty Senate, and front office administration on finding ways to economize the management of the university,” said Bergenn. “It’s important to not react to these things with the attitude that we are helpless.  We are only as helpless as we choose to be.”

Fresh into another semester, the CCSU police are looking ahead and using new and old techniques to minimize the amount of crime that takes place on campus.

According to the annual crime report that is put out in accordance with the Clery Act, the number of drug related arrests on campus from 2008 to 2010 went up annually. The report does not contain any statistics from 2011.

Sgt. Jerry Erwin says that the police are aware of this and he expects that the number will increase in 2012. He attributes this to the common misconceptions many students have about the “decriminalization” of marijuana.

“People think that decriminalized means that it’s not illegal anymore,” said Erwin. “That’s not the case.”

Jonathan Pohl, the coordinator of the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, says marijuana being decriminalized only means that if someone possesses less than half an ounce they are no longer taken into custody but given a citation instead.

In an attempt to educate people about this matter, Pohl, along with Meagen Wentz, also of the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, will be putting posters up starting Feb. 1 giving the real details about the legality of marijuana.

“You are technically being arrested even if you’re not physically taken by the police,” says Pohl. “On the back of the citation it tells you that you need to plead guilty or not guilty to this ‘crime.’ It will show up on your record as an arrest because of possession.”

To aid them further this semester, they will be allowed to carry handheld breathalyzers. While this may frighten some students, Erwin says it will actually benefit the ones who aren’t drinking on campus.

“Say for example we get a call that there’s a party happening on campus and we go to investigate and find there’s four students in a dorm room and alcohol is present,” said Erwin. “At that point we could use the breathalyzer to find out which students were actually drinking. If one of them wasn’t then, guess what? They don’t get a ticket.”

Marcia Butland, the program assistant at the Office of Student Conduct, warns that should a student be found on campus in the presence of alcohol whether they consumed any or not they will still be sanctioned by the university. Depending on your history, disciplinary action for this could range from participating in a program, writing a reflection paper and serving six months of probation, to losing your housing.

Erwin also says that the police are also somewhat concerned about synthetic semester.

“As far as I know no one has been arrested for it here,” said Erwin. “If people aren’t doing it here they’re doing it somewhere and, because its odor isn’t as recognizable as regular marijuana, it could become a problem in the future.”

Erwin says the New Britain police recently revealed that the number of alcohol related offenses off campus has gone down by four percent.

“I’d like to think we had something to do with that,” said Erwin.

With no snow to disturb their progress, the team constructing the new academic building is on time due to their steady pace.

“The project is on time and on budget,” said James Grupp walking through the busy construction site. “We have had great weather and the workers have been able to put in more hours to stay on top of the project and keep themselves on schedule. They can’t work when the weather is bad, so since there has been no big snow storms, they have been working an extra hour so they can stay on top of things.”

The team constructing the building work Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m to 3 p.m, and are currently pouring concrete footings and then will make foundation walls.

Grupp is the coordinator of Capitol Projects and Facilities Planning and has been overseeing this project since they first worked on Vance Lawn back in September.

Vance lawn was fenced off and used as a tool to help transport the rainwater from the future construction site underground into four 36-foot perforated pipes. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will not allow rainwater or surface runoff to go directly to rivers or streams.

“On campus, whenever we build a new project, we need to build a system to collect the rainwater and let it percolate slowly into the ground,” said Grupp in the fall.

Since Dec. 6, there has been an estimated 100 concrete trucks coming on to the site to pour cement.

The west side of the building is complete, as well as the south side up to the north side. The second floor, where there will be an entrance, is completed as well.

Adding concrete footings and finishing the foundation walls will take about another month, according to Grupp. At that point, the workers will be ready to add stainless steel walls to the building to create the structure by March.

“It will look like it is done from the outside, but the inside will still need to be finished,” said Grupp as he stood in front of one of the foundation walls. “Finishing all of that will take a few months.”

When completed, the 62,640 square foot building will have four stories with a partial basement. The estimated project cost is $38 million. At the end of December, approximately $2.8 million had been spent, with 7 percent of the construction completed.

On the first floor, there will be conference and classrooms as well as two computer classrooms. The second floor will be all history classrooms including the department offices. The third and fourth floor will host the anthropology, sociology, geology and political science departments. More computer classrooms will be spread throughout the building.

There will be more than one entrance, one facing Marcus White with one matching it on the other side facing Welte. Another entrance will be on the second floor facing Davidson Hall.

“This is a serious building,” said Grupp.

Grupp said that the academic building will be completed and ready for occupancy by the fall of 2013.

Student Government Association President Eric Bergenn said he hopes that senators will take on bigger roles this year after four senators stepped down last semester.

While he is hoping for more involvement from others, Bergenn has made the decision to step down from the finance committee. He will appoint a senator in his place.

“It says nothing in the bylaws that a president is required to be a part of a committee, whereas for a senator, it is required,” said Bergenn.

Bergenn said he plans on spending most of his time this semester at Faculty Senate. He is hoping that the two groups will eventually be able to work together, something he’s struggled with thus far after his initial efforts last semester.

Originally, Bergenn had proposed the idea to have eleven student voting members on the Faculty Senate back in October in order to make sure that the student voice is heard on important issues at CCSU.

He presented a printed report to the senate, noting the sections of each constitution that structured his proposal.

At that time, Faculty Senate President Candice Barrington put Bergenn’s recommendation straight to the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, but it still has not been addressed.

“It has been a clear and present goal of mine for the two groups to work more hand-in-hand together,” said Bergenn. “I think that a lot of the decisions that are made through Faculty Senate would really benefit when they get student input. In the last few years, it has been lacking.”

Bergenn said that the only way to persuade Faculty Senate of his goal is to have a presence there.

“That’s where I think I will be spending most of my time,” said Bergenn. “And because of those changes, we are going to need senators to take on a bigger role. Hopefully with that there will be a residual effect that if you are working harder at something you will follow through more because your time is concentrated there.”

President Bergenn is still unsure about what direction it will go, but he is hoping to figure that out at the first meeting.

“I think that it is beneficial that I take on this role,” said Bergenn. “I would like to set a precedent to have the President at their meetings and hopefully work that into our bylaws in the future.”

The weekend before classes started, SGA senators went to Camp Woodstock in Woodstock, Conn. for their annual retreat from Friday to Sunday.

Bernard Franklin, a well-known and influential speaker, spoke to the senate and expressed his feedback on how their senate is run. Franklin was the first elected African American student government president at Kansas State University. Currently, he is a role model to others nationwide and brings knowledge and experience to his lectures.

Senator Ryan Sheehan says he was very satisfied with their weekend retreat and the lecture from Franklin.

“It was really great, what he said is going to help us get more on track and more goal orientated,” said Sheehan.”A lot of times we get stuck in a rut arguing on allocations to clubs where we can be doing better things.”

Franklin talked to SGA about restructuring their constitution and how to avoid just being a bank for clubs. He also said that looking at their constitution, it was similar to what he would see in a high school student government.

“He guessed how our meetings were fairly accurately,” said Sheehan. “He is a student government guy, he was one of the best speakers we have ever had. The whole retreat was better handled than any year previous. Franklin was leading us off in a direction that will help the SGA in years to come.”

On Saturday the senate worked separately in their committees, each discussing their goals and working on their structure for the next semester. President Bergenn supplied the committees with make-shift calendars so they could be more organized.

This year’s retreat was the fourth retreat that Bergenn has attended, the second one that he has put on as president. Bergenn said he was very content on how it went.

“I think that this was very productive in terms of getting everyone on the same page,” said Bergenn. “I think that the group got to a perspective at not looking at arguing over smaller things, but more looking into the bigger picture. We really had the opportunity to get together and talk [to one another] and get to know each other. I think we are at a better point now than we have ever been since I have been on senate.”

Associate Professor of English Ravi Shankar’s file in relation to the motor vehicle charges he faces has been statutorily sealed by the Meriden Superior Court.

The reasons for the file’s sealing have not been disclosed. The only thing the clerk’s office is allowed to say when asked anything in regards to why it was sealed is, “We have no public information about this.”

No one from the court or the arresting agency is allowed to speculate why the file has been hidden from the public. Before the file was sealed, the charges included: illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, evading responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane and illegally operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance.

It’s unknown whether or not these charges have stayed the same.

According to Connecticut’s Judicial Branch Website, there are four reasons why a court’s clerk’s office would say they have no public information.

The first being if the defendant was granted a nolle more than 13 months ago which, based on Shankar’s arrest date, is not possible.

The second reason is if the defendant is acquitted, proven not guilty or if their charges were dismissed. In Shankar’s case, a not guilty finding is highly unlikely because he would have had to have gone through an entire trial already. However, it is possible that the charges were dismissed or he was acquitted.

The third reason why the clerk’s office would have to say they have no public information is if the file is sealed because it was court ordered to be or if the defendant was granted absolute pardon.

The final possibility is if the case involves a juvenile or youthful offender however, also seems very unlikely considering Shankar was born in 1975 and no other persons involved in the accident have been charged with anything as of yet.

According to the accident information summary, Shankar was traveling eastbound on Route 40 and was in the shoulder of two lanes when he struck a car in the rear. He then fled the scene and was later found by the police, who conducted a K9 track in the woods near the accident scene.

Shankar, who was arrested twice last semester on separate charges, still faces fraud charges in which he allegedly purchased over $20,000 worth of tickets to a soccer game in New Jersey with his Discover credit card and then claimed the purchase was fraudulent. According to the arrest warrant, he claimed he only bought four tickets to the game, totaling $342.40. However, Shankar later admitted to police that he did purchase all the tickets that were charged to his card, but took a loss when trying to sell them.

Mark McLaughlin, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, was not aware that the file had been sealed and declined to comment on the issue.

Shankar is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on March 9 in relation to the fraud charges.

By Justin Muszynski

The long-awaited general education reform may finally come to a conclusion this semester as the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee will be making their final changes to their plans and submitting them to the Senate and Curriculum committee.

“The Faculty Senate asked us to hold another open meeting for those who could not attend on Dec. 8,” said Robert Wolff, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee. “Afterward our recommendations will be sent by the Senate to standing committees like curriculum. They will be charged with producing the actual implementation of the general education revisions.”

After a survey was conducted in the spring of 2011, the Senate concluded that there was a strong desire on campus to change the current system. The Ad Hoc Committee then held several open meetings to get the campus community’s input on the matter and even started a blog devoted entirely to the topic.

Wolff says one of the biggest challenges was getting everyone’s opinion, but thinks most will favor the system the committee will submit for approval.

“There have been some bumps in the road, it’s difficult to find ways to reach faculty, staff, and students,” said Wolff. “We committed to an open process and it seems to be working.”

Thomas Burkholder, who also serves on the Ad Hoc Committee, elaborates on the difficulties of addressing all the concerns the campus community had.

“We believe so far, the biggest concerns were about the lack of flexibility in the current system and this proposal addresses those,” said Burkholder. “The other concerns were that writing, critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills be incorporated into gen ed and we believe we have done so.”

Foreign language requirements have been a major source of debate when discussions were held in regards to what the new system should look like. Burkholder says the committee will need more information before being able to make their final recommendation on this matter.

“The issue of foreign language proficiency is addressed by agreeing to study it. In effect we are kicking that issue down the road while collecting information that will help us decide how to proceed in the future,” said Burkholder. “We also had to balance the strong desire for flexibility and simplicity in the program against the desire to have depth in a discipline of the student’s choosing.  We came down on the side of flexibility and left the issue of depth alone for now.”

While many students may feel the program is too in-depth, some also think it’s too big as a whole. There isn’t much the committee can do about that because of the state’s mandates. It is stipulated in Connecticut that the general education system must be at least one third of the total credits a student accumulates. Any new system would require at least 43 general education credits to be completed.  In other words, the committee cannot stray too far from the current system, which was implemented in 1998 and requires a minimum of 44-46 credits.

Wolff says it’s probable that the submission made by the Ad Hoc Committee will neither be rejected nor approved.

“There are multiple parts to this proposal, some recommendations are likely to be approved and some not approved,” said Wolff. “There is willingness on the part of the faculty to effect some changes in gen ed so it’s unlikely to be wholly rejected.”

Should changes be approved, it’s expected they wouldn’t go into effect until the fall of 2014. The next open meeting will take place this semester but has not been scheduled at this point.

CCSU will welcome Rev. Arthur Price Jr., a pastor from Birmingham, Ala. on Feb. 9 at 3 pm. in Torp Theatre.

Price will speak on the role of religion and Christianity’s prominent role for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

According to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church website, Rev. Price was brought to Birmingham in January 2002 after serving as senior pastor of the Memorial Baptist Church in Buffalo, N.Y. Rev. Price graduated in 1995 from Colgate Rochester Divinity School where he received the Master of Divinity degree concentrating on biblical studies.

Price has also completed an undergraduate degree study at Temple University in Philadelphia and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.

Price was a prosecution assistant for eleven years in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office as well as the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office in Rochester, N. Y.

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was used as a meeting ground for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and Fred Shutterworth during the prime years of the movement.

In December, Chief A.C. Roper spoke at CCSU on the role of police brutality and the civil rights movement, drawing in a very large crowd.

According to Roper, Birmingham still remains the cradle for human rights movements.

“I can say that as of the police department, we still operate under the ‘shadow of doom,’” said Roper. “We have to make sure that we train our officers not to do things that they have done in the past. Our young officers do not really comprehend what the movement is; some of our young people think ‘what is the big deal?’ They do not tie it to the 1960’s during that awful period of time.”

Professor Stephen Balkaran, coordinator of the Civil Rights Movement Lecture Series Program, says that he encourages all to come to the event.

“This was a very important church in the African American community and the civil rights movement,” said Balkaran.

Balkaran and 20 students  traveled to the south in the summer of 2010 and met many people who lived the civil rights movement firsthand, including Rev. Price.

“The black church has been the flame bearer of the civil rights movement since the beginning,” said Balkaran in an e-mail. “Christianity has played a prominent role in establishing a moral conscious for the civil rights of blacks in America. Many individual and collective efforts contributed to freedoms we now enjoy as African Americans, but few institutions provided the united voice echoed by that of the black church.”