History professor Bobby Donaldson spent his "last lecture" highlighting the importance of the history of social justice and civil rights in America in understanding today's world. He discussed the often untold history of activists from throughout U.S. history and the lasting impact of their work.
Donaldson has been at USC for 17 years, where he runs the USC Center for Civil Rights History, and he also runs "Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters" project, a citywide initiative to document South Carolina's history with social justice movements.
“One of the greatest rewards of being a professor and being a teacher is that you’re always a student,” Donaldson said. “What I will share with you now are some of the important elements of the struggle for civil rights, human rights and social justice in our own community, in our own neighborhood — that most of you, most of us, had never learned about or experienced in our own history courses.”
For attendees like first-year economics student Cole Davis, Donaldson's enthusiasm helped bring the subject to life.
“I like how the passion that he has for that time period drives him to do what he’s doing now,” he said. “It’s just so evident that he sees the potential because of what’s happened in the past.”
Donaldson’s address was part of the “Last Lecture Series,” which is coordinated by Scholars United, in which USC faculty are given the opportunity to produce what they would want to be their final lecture if they were given the chance to prepare for such an event.
Second-year economics and mathematics student Angela Rogers is a student coordinator for the Last Lecture series.
“It’s a really interesting way for students on campus and even off campus to learn something that is not really something that you would normally learn in the classroom, or even out of the classroom, and it’s a really great way to get to know the professors in different disciplines,” Rogers said.
Donaldson’s lecture was the last in a series of three “last lectures” given this fall. Scholars United is accepting further nominations of USC faculty for the lecture program.