Andrew Young to speak as part of Common Experience

Posted by Mark Hendricks
University News Service
Oct. 9, 2008

Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young will deliver a free public lecture at Texas State University-San Marcos at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.

The lecture will take place at the outdoor mall of the LBJ Student Center on the Texas State campus. Attendees may bring lawn chairs and arrive early for the event.

Young is currently chairman of GoodWorks International. A noted civil rights activist, he served as a U.S. Congressman from 1973 to 1977 and as mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990.

Young will speak about “The National Voting Rights Act of 1965 and President Lyndon B. Johnson.” The event is part of this year’s Common Experience at Texas State, which carries the theme “Civic Responsibility and the Legacy of LBJ.” It focuses on Johnson’s devotion to public service and his contributions that continue to impact American society.

Johnson, the 32nd President of the United States, is the university’s most famous alumnus. Texas State remains the only Texas college to have graduated a U.S. president.

The Texas State Common Experience is a year-long initiative designed to cultivate a common intellectual conversation across campus, to enhance student participation in the intellectual life of the campus and to foster a sense of community.

Previous Common Experience speakers have included Maya Angelou, Spike Lee, Isabel Allende and Erin Brokovich.

For more information about this event and other Common Experience events, visit http://www.txstate.edu/commonexperience or contact Common Experience co-chairs Pam Wuestenberg at (512) 245-7952 or pw05@txstate.edu and Nico Schuler at (512) 245-3395 or nico.schuler@txstate.edu.