Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Former Congressman to speak at Jane Addams Lecture Series

Monday, March 26, 2018

A lecture series set to focus on social work policies will be held for its first year, with the speaker being former congressman Edolphus Town.

The First Annual Jane Addams Lecture Series will take place March 28 at the Glenn Convocation Center at the Southeast River Campus, with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and the lecture beginning at 6 p.m.

Social work professor Judith Crocker-Billingsley is adviser to the Student Social Work Organization (SSWO) and met Towns while speaking to U.S. Congress members while speaking on social work policies.

“Edolphus Towns is a social work pioneer, and that is why we picked him,” SSWO president Emily Iman said. “He has a face in the political side of things, and like our slogan, he has a great deal of compassion in what he does.”

Towns will be talking about the Social Work Reinvestment Act, which Crocker-Billingsley said outlines the mission of social workers.

SSWO is hosting the event as a way to promote their profession.

The lecture series’ namesake, Jane Addams, is the “mother of social work,” Crocker-Billingsley said. Addams was the founder of the Hull House, a settlement house for the homeless, in Chicago.

Iman said it was Addams’ compassion that inspires their organization. Her legacy mirrors the organization’s motto, “compassion in action,” she said.

When it came to considering a speaker, the organization wanted to find an individual that best represented the organization's values.

“You cannot get any degree, in the field of social work, or recreation, or psychology without knowing the legacy of Jane Addams,” Crocker-Billingsley said.

The event is scheduled in honor of Social Work Month, which is celebrated during March.

Crocker-Billingsley and Iman hope this first event will inspire a yearly tradition. Iman said she hopes the lecture will make for a strong impression about the social work environment at Southeast.

Iman and Crocker-Billingsley credit their organization’s executive board, the College of Human Health and Services, dean Hamner Hill, and chair of the Social Work department, Cathy McElderry, for working to make the event possible.

The lecture series is a free event, but donations will be accepted. It is open to the public.

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