HARVEY GANTT Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt will speak at Limestone College on Thursday, Jan. 12, as part of its Third Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Gantt will speak on the topic “Civil Rights and the Carolinas” at 7:30 p.m. in Fullerton Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Local groups will provide entertainment and a reception will follow the program to personally meet Gantt. The reception is sponsored by the Cherokee County Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Diversity Celebration Committee.

Born in Charleston, Gantt was the first black student to attend a previously all-white school in South Carolina when he applied and was admitted under court order to Clemson University. He graduated from Clemson with honors in 1965 and moved to Charlotte to join the firm of Odell Associates.

Gantt opened Gantt Huberman Architects in 1971, an architectural firm he cofounded with Jeff Huberman. The firm has become a successful, award-winning design organization.

Gantt has been active in politics since 1974. He served more than three terms on the Charlotte City Council and in 1983 became Charlotte’s first black mayor and served two terms.

Gantt ran against Jesse Helms in the North Carolina U.S. Senate race in 1990 and 1996.

While unsuccessful in winning the senate seat, Gantt won national acclaim and respect for the positions he took on education, health care, and the environment.

Gantt has been a lecturer and visiting scholar at several colleges nationwide including Yale, Cornell, UNC-Chapel Hill, Tuskegee, Hampton, MIT and Michigan.

Gantt’s appearance at Limestone College will be followed by an awards and scholarship luncheon Monday, Jan. 16, at noon in the private dining room at Limestone College. Awards will be presented to community and government groups for their response to Hurricane Katrina.

Tickets will be $10 with limited seating. Tickets can be purchased at the Limestone College administration building, Bethel Senior Day Care, or Foster Funeral Home.