WHITEWATER – Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a world in which equal education for all children would lead to a better world for all people.
His dream will be honored Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater when alumnus Stafford Hood ’74, ’75 returns to campus to remember King’s work and look to the future.
Richard McGregory, interim director of UWWhitewater’s Academic Support Services program, said Hood’s career as a socially responsible educator and researcher exemplifies King’s goal for education.
Dr. Hood serves as a tangible reminder that the university has produced outstanding multicultural students who have gone on to successful careers in education, McGregory said.
Hood, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from UW-Whitewater, will give the keynote address at the university’s 24th annual King commemorative event at 3:30 p.m. in the Hamilton Center in the James R. Connor University Center. The UW-Whitewater Gospel Choir will open the event, which is free and open to everyone.
Currently, Hood is the Sheila M. Miller Professor of Education and head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hood said he was fortunate as a student to meet UW-Whitewater faculty and staff members who pushed him to develop intellectually with a strong sense of social responsibility.
Equally important was the influence of our relatively small group of African American undergraduate and graduate students, he said. We pushed each other to persevere academically and held each other accountable about what we were doing for the causes of equality and social justice.
Hood, who has a Ph.D. in education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has an extensive record of teaching, research and publishing. Much of his research is focused on the participation of minority students in teacher education programs.
While UW-Whitewater’s College of Education produces the most new teachers in the state among 13 public universities, it has recognized the need to broaden and diversify the pool of graduates from UW-Whitewater to meet the needs of area school districts.
The college plans to partner with the Office of Pre-College Programs to offer a summer program called Teachers for Tomorrow. Students in the eighth through 12th grades will spend a week at UWWhitewater and will be exposed to careers in teaching. The college also hopes to begin a Future Teachers program for those incoming freshmen who have expressed an interest in becoming a teacher.
We hope this new energy and effort by UW-Whitewater and the College of Education will diversify the group of students who participate in teacher preparation programs, McGregory said.
