A symposium on Lawson's legacy will celebrate the establishment of the James M. Lawson Jr. Chair. The two-day event will be held in the Benton Chapel today and tomorrow.

Professor of History Dennis Dickerson, who holds the first chair, will deliver the inaugural lecture titled "Rooted in India: William Stuart Nelson and the Religious Origins of the Civil Rights Movement" at 7:30 p.m. today in the Benton Chapel.

A reception will follow the speech, which is free and open to the public.

Associate provost Lucius Outlaw Jr. said the establishment of the chair will build upon Lawson's legacy.

"(The purpose of the chair is to) honor and to institutionalize the recognition, convictions and practices that have been exemplified in a particular light (by the recipient)," Outlaw said.

Dickerson said he is honored to occupy a chair named for the Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., an esteemed theoretician and tactician of the civil rights movement and a superlative humanitarian.

"Receiving this chair is an affirmation of my scholarship and teaching in the areas of civil rights movement history and the religious history of African-Americans," Dickerson said.

Outlaw said both the processes of creating an honorary chair and of selecting its recipient are lengthy and require many recommendations, nominations and evaluations by people in the field, within and outside the university.

"Endowing chairs in an ongoing process - a highest recognition awarded to faculty," Outlaw said. "The university is always seeking ways to recognize and retain their most accomplished faculty."

Among those scheduled to participate include civil rights author and reporter David Halberstam, Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island Bernard LaFayette Jr., associate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. the Rev. Otis Moss, founder of the First Amendment Center John Seigenthaler, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania Barbara Savage, and associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Cynthia Fleming.

The Rev. Lawson, a key leader during the civil rights movement and a steadfast adherent and teacher of nonviolent change, is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt. Expelled from Vanderbilt in 1960 for his participation in the civil rights movement, his extended return visit has been noted by media across the country.

"The new James M. Lawson Jr. Chair at Vanderbilt will be a permanent reminder of his legacy at Vanderbilt, and the symposium on March 24 is a great opportunity for the community to learn more about his contributions to the nonviolence movement and civil rights," said Nicholas Zeppos, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.