Discussion of race and class in America is focus of SUNY Old Westbury event

Veteran civil rights advocate Rep. John Lewis and journalist and commentator Bill Moyers will headline a discussion Thursday on race and class in America at The College at Old Westbury.

The special event is being held for students, faculty, staff and donors of the college in celebration of the school's 50th anniversary. About 800 people are expected to attend.

"The college was really born out of the civil and human rights movement," said the Rev. Calvin O. Butts, president of the State University of New York campus. "People have been excluded because of race, sex and class at institutions of higher learning, and SUNY Old Westbury began to make sure all students -- New Yorkers, especially -- were not left out."

Butts, pastor of the nationally renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, has been president of The College at Old Westbury for 17 years. With an enrollment of 4,400, the college is among the youngest of the SUNY system's 64 campuses.

Lewis (D-Ga.) has been a member of Congress for more than 30 years. A founder of the activist Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he played a central role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. His graphic novel, "March," written with Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, is required reading for freshmen at The College at Old Westbury.Lewis has made other local appearances this semester, including at Molloy College and Nassau Community College.

Moyers, who most recently was the host of a weekly series called "Moyers & Company," has worked in broadcast journalism for more than 40 years, winning dozens of major awards. He was publisher of Newsday from 1967 to 1970.

The discussion, "The Future of America: Race and Class," will begin at 2:30 p.m. inside the John and Lillian Maguire Theater on campus. It will be moderated by Les Payne, the former Newsday assistant managing editor, Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter and columnist who is a co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. The event is sponsored by the college's 50th Anniversary Planning Committee.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.