Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. to Deliver Lecture at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald columnist and 2004 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary, will deliver a lecture, “If This is America …”  at The University of Alabama.

Pitts will speak at noon, Oct. 8 in 223 Little Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public.

The lecture is part of the School of Social Work’s Colloquium Series that brings speakers to campus to share expertise with UA faculty, staff, students and guests.

Pitts was originally hired by the Miami Herald to critique music, but, within a few years, he received his own column in which he dealt extensively with race, politics and culture.  He is the author of six books, including “Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood.”

This program is co-sponsored by New College in the College of Arts and Sciences and the department of journalism in the College of Communication and Information Sciences and is part of “Through the Doors,” a year-long series of activities and events commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the desegregation of UA in 1963 and honoring the courage and dedication of the two African-American students who enrolled in the University on June 11, 1963, as well as the University’s ongoing commitment to change over the past 50 years and its commitment to continued progress in the future.

For more information, visit www.throughthedoors.ua.edu/