BGSU to welcome educational rights champion Jonathan Kozol

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Jonathan Kozol, longtime national leader in advocating for the educational rights of children, will speak at Bowling Green State University April 26 as part of the “Setting the Pace Lecture Series” hosted by the College of Education and Human Development.

The author of groundbreaking books that revealed the realities of inner-city schools will speak at 7 p.m. in the Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts.

“Jonathan Kozol has been, for some time now, part of the conscience of the American educational system," said Dr. Brad Colwell, dean of BGSU's College of Education and Human Development. "His real-life experience in schools and struggling communities has highlighted the inequalities present in life in the United States. His discussions of how the chance location of a child’s birth can have enormous consequences for the quality of education that child receives are as relevant today as when he first started to write and talk about it many years ago."

Kozol has been working with inner city schoolchildren for more than 40 years, and has written numerous books, including “Death at an Early Age: The Destruction of Hearts and Minds of Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools,” which drew upon his work as a fourth grade teacher in the low-income, predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood.

Among his other books are “The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America,” “Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation" and his latest, “On Being a Teacher.”

He has held two Guggenheim Fellowships, two Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships and has received fellowships from the Field and Ford foundations.

"We are excited to have Mr. Kozol share his insights with the campus and local community,” Colwell said. “His work continues to point out the struggle that lies ahead to raise the quality of education for all children in the country, even the poor ones. It is important to remember that Jonathan Kozol asks us all to reflect on our collective conscience, that we all share responsibility for the quality of school not only for our own neighborhood and child, but for every child in America."

The “Setting the Pace Lecture Series” brings four distinguished speakers to campus throughout the academic year to initiate positive and interactive dialogues and to discuss ideas trending in education and human development.

A book signing will follow Kozol’s free, public presentation. Books will be available for purchase. Registration is required for this event and seats are limited. To register, visit www.bgsu.edu/colleges/edhd/pd.html or email mmunger@bgsu.edu.