Civil Rights Heroine Diane Nash to Speak at Goodwin College

Influential civil rights pioneer Diane Nash, a leading student organizer in the Freedom Rider movement of the early 1960s, will visit Goodwin College on Tuesday, Jan. 22, where she will address college and high school students.

Civil Rights Leader Diane Nash, a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an influential student organizer during the 1960s and beyond.

Nash, a lifelong activist, is considered one of the era’s most important student organizers. In 1964, she was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to serve on a commission which promoted the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Later in life, Nash made waves advocating for fair housing and education in her native Chicago.

During the Freedom Rides of 1961, courageous activists rode buses into the segregated southern states to challenge local laws and customs that enforced segregation, often resulting in violent reactions and ugly acts of racism. These confrontations, while placing the activists in physical danger, served to galvanize national condemnation of segregation.

Goodwin College president Mark Scheinberg said Nash’s visit bolsters the college’s mission to promote civic responsibility and leadership, even in the face of adversity.

“Our students triumph over adversity every day just to be here. What we are seeking to foster here, through Diane Nash’s visit, is a sense within each of our students that they have the capability of becoming leaders in the community, and that history ultimately celebrates the courage of those who stand up for justice, even when it seems like an uphill climb at the time,” Scheinberg said.

Nash was a friend and associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, who described her as the “driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.” In 1962, Dr. King nominated Nash for an NAACP award for her role in organizing peaceful student citizens to protest segregation.

At Goodwin, Nash will address students, including students from the college’s magnet high school, Connecticut River Academy, as well as other students invited from the Greater Hartford Area. Nash’s lecture, from 10 a.m. to noon in the auditorium, is open to the public, though space is limited. Those interested in attending should RSVP to Matt Engelhardt at mengelhardt@goodwin.edu or by phone at 860-913-2033.

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