From left to right:
Head of School, Michael C. Obel-Omia, poses with PCS 10th graders, Sebastian Yidana, Betsy St. Vil, Professor Charles J. Ogletree (center), Marvick Felix, and Emily Luna at URI/Kingston after Ogletree’s lecture at the University
As a part of its Black History Month celebration, URI invited Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree to speak to a full house at its Kingston campus. A distinguished legal mind that shaped both Michelle and Barak Obama’s thinking when they were students at Harvard Law, Professor Ogletree discussed his latest book, The Presumption of Guilt, a work that explores our perceptions of race, class, and crime in a time of our first elected African-American president. Its primary subject is the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, a preeminent scholar and professor at Harvard University.
PCS 10th graders, Sebastian Yidana, Betsy St. Vil, Marvick Felix, and Emily Luna were guests of Paul Cuffee School Board Member Earl Smith, who hosted the students for an afternoon tour of the college before the evening lecture.
Professor Ogletree captivated the crowd and sparked thoughtful comments from the students. Ariana Wohl, our seventh grade humanities teacher, and Maria Monteiro, Director of Institutional Advancement and an alumna of URI, also attended the lecture. A copy of Professor Ogletree’s book about the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was donated to the Wiggins Collection by Head of School Michael C. Obel-Omia.