About the Symposium & Gala

Welcome and thank you for joining us in reviewing highlights from the John Hope Franklin Symposium & Gala presented by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. We celebrated living legend Dr. John Hope Franklin and three individuals who have exhibited leadership in higher education consistent with the highest standards of exellence set by Dr. Franklin.

Scholars, researchers, faculty, administrators, and business leaders from around the country gathered on June 26-27,2008, at theWashington Duke Inn on the campus of Duke University in Durham, N.C., for Diverse’s 4th John Hope Franklin Awards symposium and gala. Approximately 350 people were in attendance over the course of the two-day event. Symposium panels addressed issues such as affirmative action, technology, a pedagogical look at hip-hop, the dearth of Black and Hispanic males on college campuses, and deficiencies within the K-12 educational system. The culminating event was the awards gala and the presentation of the 2008 John Hope Franklin Awards. Dr. Norman C. Francis, president of Xavier University of Louisiana; Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, chairman emeritus, Board of Trustees, The Duke Endowment, were recognized and honored for their contributions to education.

Photos by Duke University Photography