MEDIA ADVISORY: First national public 50th anniversary Brown v. BOE event Sept. 18 at KUE

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE: The Brown v. Board of Education 50th anniversary national commission begins a national series of public programs commemorating the historic decision at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, with a panel discussion in the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, 2350 Petefish Drive, at the University of Kansas.

The two-hour program, "Race, Law and the American Creed: Examining the Social and Legal Impact of Brown v. Board of Education," is free and open to the public. Because of limited seating, the Dole Institute for Politics had requested that people planning to attend make reservations by Sept. 15.

WHO: Three notable historians will discuss the decision's impact:

 • V.P. Franklin, editor of the Journal of African-American History
 • David R. Roediger, director of the Center on Democracy in a Multicultural Society at the University of Illinois
 • Roger Wilkins, distinguished professor of history at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

MEDIA: Reporters and photographers are welcome to accompany the panelists at 6 p.m. as they tour the Dole Institute before the program begins at 7 p.m.

The KU program is the first in a series being sponsored in cities around the nation by the Brown v. Board of Education 50th anniversary national commission. The series will culminate March 14 through 17, 2004, at KU with a conference on "The Legacies and Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board."

Other programs in the national series will be presented at the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio on Oct. 9 and 10; at Clark-Atlanta University in Atlanta on Nov. 5; and at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City on Dec. 7. Two more programs will be scheduled in January and February.