Each year at Homecoming, the Peace Studies Institute honors an individual for their significant contributions to peace and justice.  This year, we recognize Fannie Lou Hamer. Born in 1917 to a family of Mississippi sharecroppers, Hamer fought for her own right to vote then joined the voter registration work of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  She courageously led SNCC welfare and registration programs in some of the most violent regions of the country, enduring police beatings that left permanent injuries.  Hamer’s work to promote racial and gender equality in political life was matched by her tireless efforts to address poverty and economic injustice.  At her memorial service in 1977, Andrew Young eulogized Hamer’s central role in the civil rights movement, saying "None of us would be where we are now had she not been there then."
 
Alumni are invited to honor the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer as we add her name to the Peacemakers Wall in the Gladdys Muir Peace Garden at 10 a.m. Saturday.  The garden is located on the southwest side of campus.