Former President Bill Clinton is set to speak on the long struggle for equality in the United States at the University of Minnesota, as its Humphrey School of Public Affairs commemorates 50 years since the signing of the federal Civil Rights Act.
Clinton is scheduled to accept the Dean's Award for Public Leadership at the Monday night event at Northrop Auditorium. The Humphrey School has planned a year's worth of activities in conjunction with the commemoration of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The school's namesake, Hubert Humphrey, made civil rights legislation a major emphasis of his career as mayor of Minneapolis, U.S. senator and vice president of the United States.
Eric Schwartz, dean of the Humphrey School, noted that Clinton has often spoke of how the civil rights era forged his own political identity.
Clinton's speech comes as his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is again in the national political spotlight while she mulls a 2016 White House run. This Tuesday brings the publication of "Hard Choices," her memoir of four years as U.S. secretary of state.
Tickets to the Bill Clinton event cost $50 for the general public.
