Texas Program in Sports and Media Announces Creation of the Dr. Harry Edwards Lecture on Sport and American Culture

AUSTIN, Texas – April 7, 2014 – The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication's Texas Program in Sports and Media (TPSM) is creating a second named lecture as a forum to address important issues of sport and society. The Dr. Harry Edwards Lecture on Sport and American Culture, presented by the McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society, is named after and created by the noted sports sociologist and professor emeritus from the University of California, Berkeley. At the inaugural event, Edwards will present "Lessons from the Life and Calling of a Once Failed Student." The program will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8 in the Student Activity Center Legislative Assembly Room (2.302), 2201 Speedway. It is free and open to the public.

The Edwards Lecture joins the Frank Deford Lecture on Sports Journalism as a venue for esteemed professionals and accomplished academics to speak to the university community on pressing issues that lie at the intersection of sport and society. Deford presented the initial Deford Lecture in 2010. Since then, speakers have included journalists Sally Jenkins, David Maraniss, Jeremy Schaap and Neil Leifer. The McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society is the presenting sponsor of the Deford and Edwards Lectures.

About Harry Edwards
Edwards is a highly sought-after speaker and advisor, who is a staff consultant with the San Francisco 49ers, having retired from UC, Berkeley in 2000. Born in St. Louis, the trajectory of Edwards' life changed when he became part of the first generation of black students to desegregate East St. Louis Senior High School after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, ending "separate-but-equal" racial accommodations of public facilities. Moving to California in the 1960s to pursue an athletic career, Edwards went on to become a self-styled "scholar-activist," revolutionizing academic and public discourse on the substance of sport and society.

According to journalist Robert Lipsyte, "No other single figure in sports has done as much to make the country aware that the problems of the larger culture are recapitulated in sports, that the arena is no sanctuary from drugs, racism and corruption."

Author of "Sociology of Sport" and "Revolt of the Black Athlete," among other publications, Edwards counsels students and professional athletes alike to pursue "disciplined analysis, understanding, and application at the pitch of passion."

Edwards was the architect of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which begot the black power salute by sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Edwards has consulted with the NFL, NBA and MLB on issues associated with minority representation among athletes, coaches, front office executive and ownership.

About the McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society
The McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society is TPSM’s capstone event, created to bring to life a robust and interactive conversation about the role of sports and media and their collective effects on American culture. Named after and supported by University of Texas at Austin alumnus Cappy McGarr, the conference brings academics and working professionals to campus to discuss sports-related public policy issues, cultural challenges and societal imperatives of sport consumption behavior. The 2013 McGarr Symposium featured a discussion with Greg and Kathy LeMond, Betsy Andreu, Bill Bock and Reed Albergotti, regarding the culture of doping in profession cycling. In addition to these topical events, the McGarr Symposium is the presenting sponsor of the Dr. Harry Edwards Lecture on Sport and American Culture and the Frank Deford Lecture on Sports Journalism.

About the Texas Program in Sports and Media
The Texas Program in Sports and Media (TPSM) supports curriculum, research and programming on issues of sports, media and society for the academic departments of the Moody College. Launched in 2010, TPSM cultivates academic and industry resources to help Moody College faculty and students develop a meaningful and productive dialogue with a multi-faceted, dynamic and expansive industry. TPSM’s signature events include the McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society, The Frank Deford Lecture on Sports Journalism and, now, the Dr. Harry Edwards Lecture on Sport and American Culture.

About The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication
One of the nation's foremost institutions for the study of advertising and public relations, communication sciences and disorders, communication studies, journalism and radio-TV-film, The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication is preparing students to thrive in an era of media convergence. Serving more than 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students, Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. For more information about the Moody College of Communication, visit http://moody.utexas.edu.

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Contacts: Laura Byerley, (512) 471-2182; Christopher Hart, (512) 471-2431.

Laura Byerley
Public Affairs Representative