Civil rights activist Dr. Leslie McLemore will speak at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in Charter Hall 201 on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

His presentation is entitled: “Fannie Lou Hamer, Barack Obama and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” His talk is part of Black History Month activities at SMSU.

McLemore is also a teacher, researcher and lecturer. An authority on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, he was the vice-chair of the original delegation to the 1964 Democratic convention. Currently, he serves as the president of the city council in Jackson, Miss.

Dr. McLemore received a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, a master’s from Atlanta University and his undergraduate degree from Rust College. He is an authority on the Southern civil rights movement and social movements in Africa.

Dr. David Pichaske, author, publisher and a longtime English professor at Southwest Minnesota State University, has been nominated for the annual Kay B. Sexton Award, which honors a lifetime contribution to Minnesota’s literary community.

The winner of the award will be announced in late February. It is sponsored by Common Good Books of St. Paul and affiliated with the annual Minnesota Book Awards contest.

Pichaske has taught at SMSU since 1981, has authored, co-authored or co-edited at least 17 books, and is the publisher-editor of two acclaimed independent book-publishing houses, Spoon River Poetry Press and Ellis Press.

He is a three-time recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship. As a professor and publisher, he has been an avid promoter of rural regional literature, giving public talks on the importance of regional writing and teaching the works of such regional authors as Bill Holm, Paul Gruchow and Meridel LeSueur, among others.

Marshall native Matt Suby has been named Assistant Director of Admission at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Suby has been interim Assistant Director of Admission since March 2010.

As assistant director, Suby oversees ambassadors, work-study students and scholarship initiatives; coordinates the mentor scholarship program; organizes registration programs; maintains the student records database; and works with staff and the director of admission regarding enrollment goals and marketing initiatives.

Suby is the son of Tom and Kathy Suby of Marshall. He graduated from Marshall High School in 2001, and from Augustana College in January 2006. He will receive his master’s in Education from SMSU this coming May. He started working as an admission counselor at SMSU in April 2006.