EUGENE–Richard Delgado, a national leader and advocate in the areas of progressive legal thought and civil rights, will share his views on race and social change as the 18th occupant of the University of Oregon Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics.

Delgado will give public lectures in Eugene and Portland during his two-week visit to Oregon, Oct. 11—23. He also will meet with faculty and student groups during informal brown-bag lunches and, along with his wife, Jean Stefancic, will present seminars for UO students. Stefancic is a research associate at the University of Colorado School of Law, where she writes about civil rights, law reform, social change and legal scholarship.

Delgado’s Morse Chair lecture, "How Conservative Think Tanks and Foundations Changed America’s Social Agenda," explores issues raised in his 1996 book by the same title which he co-authored with Stefancic. Delgado will discuss the way conservative money and philanthropy back right wing think tanks that he says "have been cranking out scholarship, tort reform, immigration reform, English-only laws and a host of other programs dear to the conservative agenda." He says he’ll also "propose an agenda for the ‘left’ in the hopes it will galvanize itself and start providing an energetic program with ideas and policies."

The Morse Chair lecture is free and open to the public. It takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Eugene Hilton, 66 E. Sixth Ave.

Delgado is considered one of the nation’s foremost leaders in critical legal studies and a pioneering force in critical race theory. His work in "hate speech" and "imperial scholarship" gained him national attention among the general public and in academic circles.

Stanley Fish, a noted legal scholar and Duke University law and English professor, characterizes Delgado as "a triple pioneer. He was the first to question free speech ideology; he and a few others invented critical race theory; and he is both a theorist and an exemplar of the importance of story-telling to the workings of the law."

UO School of Law Dean Rennard Strickland served on faculty with Delgado at the universities of Washington and Wisconsin and describes him as "a defining figure in critical race study and theory and one of the most prolific scholars in all of legal education. He succeeded in the same way as Wayne Morse in combining an academic base into the public forum for the discussion of issues that face society."

Delgado is the author of more than 100 articles and 11 books, six of which received national book awards, including four Gustavus Myers prizes for outstanding book in the area of human rights, and an Outstanding Academic Book Award from the American Library Association. He recently shared a Rockefeller-Belagio grant with Stefancic to write a book about social change.

Delgado has appeared on the "McNeil-Lehrer News Hour," "Good Morning America," National Public Radio, and PBS’s panel on hate speech, hosted by former CBS News president Fred Friendly.

In addition to his Morse Chair talk, Delgado’s lecture schedule includes:

• Friday, Oct. 16–Colloquium on Affirmative Action, 2:30 p.m., Room 129, Grayson Hall (UO Law Center), 1101 Kincaid St. The event is free and open to the public.

• Saturday, Oct. 17–"The Price We Pay: The Case Against Racist Speech and Hate Propaganda," a workshop presentation at the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment Conference, 4 p.m., Lane Community College, 4000 E. 30^th Ave. Conference fees range from $10-$85. For more information, call the coalition’s Seattle office, (206) 233-9136.

Details of Delgado’s Portland talk will be announced later by Portland State University.

Delgado is currently the Jean Lindsley Professor of Law at the University of Colorado, where he teaches classes in civil procedure, civil rights, and law and medicine. He and his wife live in a mountain cabin outside of Boulder, Colo.

The Wayne Morse Chair was created in 1978 as a living memorial to the late Oregon senator and former dean of the UO School of Law. The chair is an endowed professorship financed by private donations and a matching federal grant.

The UO president selects each occupant "on the basis of qualities and achievements exemplified in the life of Wayne L. Morse: courage, integrity, independence, teaching ability, statesmanship, scholarship and contributions to the enhancement of law, representative government and world peace."

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