A screening and panel discussion of the documentary film “A Generation of Change” will be held Monday, Jan. 26 at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Sanford 04 and is free and open to the public. The hour-long film highlights North Carolina’s own “Greatest Generation” leaders, who established many of the state’s institutions, including the state university and community college systems and Research Triangle Park. Those profiled include former University of North Carolina system president William Friday and Terry Sanford, who served as governor of North Carolina, as a past president of Duke University, and as a U.S. SenatorThe film follows these leaders from their youth in the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II and the election of 1972. It was produced by Durham filmmaker and historian Steve Channing and by Rebecca Cerese. Channing will give opening remarks.Professor Joel Fleishman, who was tapped by Sanford as the founding director of the Sanford School, will moderate a panel discussion after the film focusing on how issues of equity and economic advancement in North Carolina have evolved over the last 50 years. Panelists are:• Dr. Brenda Armstrong, now a pediatric cardiologist, who was among the first black undergraduates to attend Duke University and who took part in the Allen Building takeover in 1969. • Historian William Chafe, former dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Science at Duke, who writes on race and gender inequality.• David Dodson, president of MDC, a Durham-based nonprofit founded in 1967 that researches and develops programs addressing inequity and poverty. MDC was founded with support from Gov. Terry Sanford’s North Carolina Fund.Event parking is available at the Bryan Center. The event is not ticketed and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Watch a trailer for the film at http://generationofchangefilm.com/.
