Sept. 22, 2016
Race, Sports and Vanderbilt: 1966-1970, a semester-long exhibition organized by Vanderbilt’s Fine Arts Gallery, will debut Friday with an afternoon reception followed by a panel discussion featuring Vice Chancellors David Williams, Dr. George Hill and author Andrew Maraniss.
The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Perry Wallace on Vanderbilt’s campus. Wallace, who broke the color barrier in Southeastern Conference basketball, was the subject of Maraniss’ New York Times best-seller, Strong Inside.
The exhibition will touch upon a wide variety of topics during the fall semester, concluding Dec. 8. Additional programming is being evaluated for the spring semester. Friday’s introductory panel will serve as a preview to the year ahead in discussing university diversity goals, the often controversial role sports can play in society and some anecdotes from the historic Wallace era when athletic events and civil rights occasionally blended to form an underlying tension in the United States.
The reception begins at 5:00 p.m. in Cohen Gallery, Cohen Hall on the Peabody campus. The event is free to the public.