SOCY News
Rededicated: The Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building In October, the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland unanimously approved the naming of the ArtSociology Building after one of the College’s most distinguished alumni, the late Congressman Parren J. Mitchell. The Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building recognizes and honors Congressman Mitchell’s legacy of advancing greater social inclusion, both at the University of Maryland and the community at large. University leadership and a number of notable speakers and guests attended a special ceremony to rededicate the building on Dec. 3. Sociology Chair Patricio Korzeniewicz noted during the ceremony that “the renaming of this building recognizes Congressman Mitchell’s efforts to challenge the barriers of exclusion and discrimination in whatever form and shape they might take. That is what Congressman Parren Mitchell did with his own life, as a student and after, and that is the legacy we honor today.” History and Legacy In 1952, Parren Mitchell became the first African American to obtain a graduate degree from the University of Maryland, a pioneering achievement as the leadership of the University sought to exclude him from attending classes on account of his race. Congressman Mitchell successfully sued the University, with legal representation undertaken by then-NAACP Lead Counsel Thurgood Marshall, to attend the College Park campus. In his youth, Parren protested against segregation in the city of Baltimore. In 1942, Congressman Mitchell served in the Ninety-Second Infantry Division of the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer and company commander during World War II and received a Purple Heart. He later attended Morgan State University under the GI Bill, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in 1950. He then applied to the graduate program in sociology at UMD, ultimately graduating with honors, while overcoming numerous roadblocks and challenges. Congressman Mitchell would state later that the sociological training he received at College Park shaped his activism in politics and social change for years to come. “Congressman Mitchell’s accomplishments brought him broad recognition but were attained while in the pursuit of the public good, and he serves as a shining example of the ideals we seek to foster as a public academic institution,” Dean Gregory Ball said.
After serving in many academic and public positions in the 1950s and 1960s, Mitchell became the first African American elected to Congress from Maryland in 1970, as well as the first African American congressman from below the MasonDixon Line since 1898. Representing Maryland’s Seventh Congressional District, Congressman Mitchell was one of the 13 founding members of the Black Caucus, and became known as a staunch supporter of minority-owned businesses. Annual Parren Mitchell Symposium Each year, the Critical Race Initiative’s (CRI) annual Parren Mitchell Symposium examines systemic inequality in contemporary society. Through the engagement of scholars, activists and other professionals, the symposium elucidates how race permeates social institutions and provides a direct dialogue between the broader campus community and symposium participants. The third annual Parren Mitchell Symposium was hosted by CRI, under the auspices of the Department of Sociology, on April 27. The topic was “Racism: In Sickness and in Health.” Next year’s symposium will be held on April 26. Learn more and watch the livestream: go.umd.edu/PMsymposium.
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Watch the Parren Mitchell legacy video at: go.umd.edu/MitchellLegacy
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences: Be the Solution | 19