At its inaugural symposium in Montgomery on March 14-15, the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights appointed Professor Bryan Fair to its second cohort of Gray Institute Fellows. The Fellows are appointed to two-year terms where they provide leadership, foster external relationships to benefit the Institute, and work on projects focused on the Institute’s initiatives: medical ethics, voting rights, gerrymandering, human and civil rights law, and ensuring equal access to quality education.
Fred D. Gray is one of the nation’s foremost civil rights attorneys, having represented Mrs. Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Congressman John Lewis, and hundreds more in the civil rights movement – Dr. King once called Gray “the movement’s lawyer.” He also successfully represented Vivian Malone and James Hood in their efforts to enroll at UA in 1963, playing an indispensable role in the legal desegregation of public education in Alabama and throughout the United States. In 2022, the University of Alabama presented Gray with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree at the Law School commencement ceremony in recognition of his impactful career.
The Institute was founded to remember and study the legacy of Gray’s work and the Civil Rights Movement, to assess its progress and struggle in the present, and to advocate justice and equality into the future.
Professor Fair also presented a speech entitled Courage Under Fire: The Life and Legacy of Mr. Fred Gray at the Symposium, where the Law School served as one of the sponsors. Symposium Director David Fleer said of Professor Fair’s speech, “Fair presented a tour de force summary of Attorney Gray’s legal oeuvre and impact and then set forth constructive means toward a hopeful future.”
More information about the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights is available online.