A member of the “Little Rock Nine” will be the keynote speaker at the 2004 Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity.

Terrance Roberts was among nine students who were of the first to participate in the integration of Arkansas public schools at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

“I think that because we are in a yearlong celebration of the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., this makes [Roberts] very appropriate,” said Georgia Hale, director of education student services.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark decision that desegregated public schools in the United States.

Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus shut down all public high schools in the state after Roberts completed a year at Central High School. As a result, he completed his senior year of high school in Los Angeles County, Calif.

Roberts was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in the area of civil rights from former President Clinton in 1998.

Hale said Roberts provides an interesting perspective on racism in the education system because he was directly affected by it.

“He lived through it,” Hale said. “He can tell us through personal experience what it is like to be turned away from an education because of the color of your skin.”

Roberts has a first-hand account of what happened in 1957, and he set the stage for more growth, Hale said.

“He chose to endure the wrath of a city and school because he believed in desegregation,” said Debra Sanborn, program coordinator for the Dean of Students office. “It would have been easy not to, but he chose to get the best education he could.”

Roberts’ past experiences is a reminder of how far how the United States has come, Hale said.

“[Roberts] helps us remember that we had to fight to get where we are today, and make sure that we never go back to that,” Hale said.

Roberts will be speaking twice on Friday. He will be the keynote speaker at the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity luncheon, which will be from noon to 1:50 p.m. Friday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Registration for the conference is free, but registration is required to attend the luncheon.

Roberts will speak again at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.