{"185651":{"#nid":"185651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Congressman John Lewis to Receive Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECongressman John Lewis, an icon of American civil rights, has been named a recipient of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage, Georgia Institute of Technology President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson announced today. Lewis will be honored during events at the Institute\u2019s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts on April 4, 2013.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cJohn Lewis put his life on the line for many years during the 1960s to bring about equality under the law for all Americans. His unflinching civil rights leadership and ongoing advocacy for social change throughout his career have elevated the causes of human rights around the world,\u201d said Peterson.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIt is our privilege to honor the life and work of Congressman Lewis through the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELewis became known around the world at the age of 25 when he called on President Lyndon Johnson for federal intervention following a brutal attack on peaceful protesters by law enforcement near Selma, Alabama. Lewis\u2019 appeal on that \u201cBloody Sunday,\u201d March 7, 1965, turned public opinion against those trying to maintain the old social order of the South and moved President Johnson two days later to present to Congress what would become the Voting Rights Act.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCongressman Lewis is one among us who has had the discipline and tenacity to stand tall, even in the face of physical danger, and he continues the struggle to change the world and make it a better place. His courage in the nonviolent movement for civil rights and his ongoing work to build communities of trust provide both a watermark and a signpost in the quest for human rights and human dignity in our world,\u201d said Jacqueline J. Royster, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELewis was one of the \u201cBig Six\u201d leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He is the last surviving keynote speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, of which he was a core architect. Lewis\u2019 impact on civil rights for African-Americans included advocating desegregation laws and voters\u2019 rights. A founding member and president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lewis planned and led many of their activities. His personal courage was first evident when he led student sit-ins that resulted in the public accommodation of African-Americans at Nashville restaurants. He was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders who challenged legally sanctioned segregation on interstate buses. Despite repeated attacks on his dignity, physical beatings and arrests, Lewis remained staunchly committed to nonviolent work for social change.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELewis was elected a U.S. Congressman from Georgia in 1986 and represents the state\u2019s Fifth Congressional District including Atlanta and parts of four surrounding counties. He has remained an outspoken advocate for domestic and international social and human rights issues. As recently as 2009, he was arrested at the embassy of Sudan, where he was protesting the obstruction of aid to refugees in Darfur.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage recognizes individuals such as Lewis who, by standing up for clear moral principles in the social arena, have positively affected public discourse at the risk of their own careers, livelihoods and even their lives. The Prize is endowed in perpetuity by the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore information on the Allen Prize can be found at the following link: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ivanallenprize.gatech.edu\/home\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/ivanallenprize.gatech.edu\/home\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECongressman John Lewis, an icon of American civil rights, has been named a recipient of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage, Georgia Institute of Technology President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson announced today. Lewis will be honored during events at the Institute\u2019s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts on April 4, 2013.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Congressman John Lewis, an icon of American civil rights, has been named a recipient of the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2013-01-22 13:46:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:29","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-01-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-01-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"185641":{"id":"185641","type":"image","title":"Congressman John Lewis","body":null,"created":"1449179081","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:41","changed":"1475894833","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:13","alt":"Congressman John Lewis","file":{"fid":"196143","name":"john_lewis_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/john_lewis_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/john_lewis_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":48629,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/john_lewis_0_0.jpg?itok=t9hXo9bd"}}},"media_ids":["185641"],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}