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Atlanta, GA | Posted: May 10, 2008
This article was originally published in Philanthropy Quarterly, Spring 2008.
Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., COMM 1933, believed that testifying before Congress in 1963 in support of civil rights legislation would end his political career. Allen, who was up for re-election the following year, had been asked by President John F. Kennedy to come to Washington and testify before Congress in support of the landmark legislation that would provide legal access to public accommodations for African-Americans.
Many of those whose advice Allen sought on the matter counseled him not to testify, believing as Allen did that his political life would be over. Even some African-American leaders in Atlanta were against Allen giving testimony for fear of losing a sympathetic mayor in the coming election cycle.
However, two very special people were supportive of the idea: close friend and Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff and Allen’s wife, Louise, who reportedly told her husband that if he thought testifying was the right thing to do, then he should do it.
For Allen, who died in 2003, his belief in the moral imperative of publicly supporting the civil rights legislation ultimately outweighed worries about his political fortunes. While the initial reaction to his testimony was negative—especially in the South—public opinion soon shifted and Allen handily won re-election the following year as well as accolades for his beloved city.
The courage Allen displayed nearly half a century ago has inspired the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation to make a commitment of $2 million to endow the Ivan Allen Prize for Social Courage within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. The new prize will replace the existing Ivan Allen Prize for Progress and Service, which has been given since 2001 largely to prominent individuals for a lifetime of achievement and with strong connections to Atlanta or Georgia.
The new award will be international in scope and will recognize individuals who, by standing up for a clear moral principle in the social arena, have positively affected public discourse at the risk of their own careers, their livelihoods, and even their lives. Consequently, the prize might go to someone already well known, or to someone whose social courage has yet to be widely recognized. The Ivan Allen Prize for Social Courage will be accompanied by a $100,000 cash award to be funded by income from the new endowment.
“My father was the kind of man who was always guided by his conscience above any other consideration,” says H. Inman Allen, HON 2007, son of Ivan Allen Jr. and chairman of Ivan Allen Company. “I know there are many more Ivan Allens around the globe standing up for what they believe is right regardless of the risk, and I want this award to help bring the continuity of their examples to light.”
“This prize also will serve to highlight our unique role as a liberal arts college in a technological university,” notes Sue V. Rosser, dean and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “Today, it’s important but ultimately not enough to educate students to be superb engineers or business leaders. We must also inform their sense of professional responsibility and motivate their sense of social justice. The Allen Prize not only will provide examples of the kind of leaders we seek to develop, but it will also inspire students here and elsewhere to discover their own sources of social courage.”
To inquire about making a gift in support of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, contact Director of Development Ski Hilenski at 404.894.9539 or ski.hilenski@iac.gatech.edu.
