Noted author of “Life on the Color Line” to speak at SU’s College of Law

Noted author of “Life on the Color Line” to speak at SU’s College of LawSeptember 03, 2004Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

Gregory Howard Williams, president of the City College of New York, will speak at Syracuse University as part of the College of Law’s Kharas Distinguished Visiting Scholar series. The lecture, titled “And Justice for All: A personal journal and access to the Law,” will take place Sept. 13 at 11:45 a.m. in Hendricks Chapel. A book signing will follow the lecture.

Williams is known for his 1995 best-selling memoir, “Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black,” which described his early life in rural Virginia where he was raised white, before being finding out his father was black. The memoir was selected as Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times in 1995.

Before joining the City College of New York, Williams served as dean and the Carter C. Kissell Professor of Law at Ohio State University. In 1999, he was the first recipient of the National Bar Association’s A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Preservation of Human and Civil Rights.

Williams holds five degrees, including a J.D. and a Ph.D. from George Washington University.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Paid visitor parking is offered on a space-available basis in the Irving and University Avenue Garages.