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Ole Miss trailblazer, James Meredith to receive Harvard award

Dean Kathleen McCartney has announced that Civil Rights activist, author, and political adviser James Meredith will receive the Harvard Graduate School of Education Medal for Education Impact, the highest honor given by the school, and speak at the 2013 Convocationceremony on May 29.

“Just over 50 years ago, Mr. Meredith walked through the doors of the University of Mississippi, becoming the first African American to enroll in the previously segregated school. In doing so, he forced America to look in the mirror and become a better nation. Fifty years later, he is still working to address inequality in America’s schools,” McCartney said. “At HGSE we know that education is a civil right. James Meredith endured beatings and bullets to fight for that right. His courage and determination cannot be overstated. Today, we all walk in his footsteps and through the doors he opened.”

According to Meredith, the award will be the first he has accepted in 50 years. […]