Presentation on Multicultural Understanding

Jan. 20, 2012

The College of Central Florida will host a presentation on “Civil Rights Trail and Multicultural Understanding” with Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, senior lecturer of African American Studies and Religion at the University of Florida.

The presentation will be held Monday, Feb. 6, from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. in the Citrus Learning and Conference Center, Room 101B, at the Citrus Campus, 3800 S. Lecanto Highway, Lecanto. The presentation will be repeated on Monday, Feb. 6, from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. at the Ewers Century Center, Room 108, at the Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala. There is no fee to attend either session.

Simmons has a long history in the area of civil rights, human rights and peace work. During her early adult years, as a college student and thereafter, she was active with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. She spent seven years working full time on voter registration and desegregation activities in Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

Simmons is a contributor to the 2010 book “Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC,” in which 52 women shared their courageous personal stories. Simmons contribution, “Fighting for My Rights: One SNCC Woman’s Experience, 1961-1964,” was Part 1 of the book. In March 2011 she was presented the Women’s Global Award by the Gainesville Commission on the Status of Women for her lifetime of service on behalf of African-American and women’s rights.

The events are supported by CF Foundation and Student Life. For additional information, contact Dr. John Anene, anenej@cf.edu, 352-746-6721, ext. 6126; or Dewith Mayne, mayned@cf.edu, 352-746-6721, ext. 6127.