Brandon Wilson, from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, will lead discussions on "10 Ways to Fight Hate on Campus." Media members are welcome to cover Wilson's presentations; two key meetings will be Thursday, September 29, 2:30-3:30 p.m., and Friday, September 30, 9-11 a.m. Both meetings are open to the entire campus community and will be held in the Kirkhof Center on the Allendale Campus.
Wilson is the college outreach associate for SPLC's Teaching Tolerance Program and founder of the 10 Ways to Fight Hate on Campus National Tour. The program's mission is to ensure that no higher learning institution has to go without tools needed to effectively respond to hate.
A graduate of Auburn University, Wilson was a student leader and assistant to the vice president in Auburn's Office of Student Affairs in 2001 when photographs of a campus Halloween party appeared on the Internet of white students wearing blackface, sporting Ku Klux Klan regalia and carrying nooses. The incident thrust the university into the international spotlight and prompted Wilson to take action, which resulted in numerous television appearances. He also advises college and university presidents and administrators on ways to build campus communities that promote inclusion.
