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Memorable visits to U-M by the Rev. Jesse Jackson

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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a champion in the Civil Rights Movement and former presidential candidate, died Feb. 17 at the age of 84.

Jackson made several visits to the University of Michigan campus, including in November 2016 when he was celebrated for his five decades of civil rights activism. (Click here to view a video of his speech)

At that event, which was initiated by nationally acclaimed journalist Bankole Thompson and included the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Jackson delivered a keynote address titled “What’s next for us? Hope and Reflection.”

The event at Rackham Auditorium included sessions that focused on the significance of Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns and his impact on student activism at U-M through the years.

He also spoke at the Diag during a walkout organized by Students4Justice to protest racism.

Here is a look at some of Jackson’s most memorable visits to campus through the years.

A man in between two women raise their arms in the air while smiling
In April 1999, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is shown with Provost Nancy Cantor (left) and Brenda Robinson (right), honor student, coordinator of the Jesse Jackson Programming Committee and Jackson’s niece. (Photo by Paul Jaronski, Photo Services)
A man stands at a podium and speaks to a crowd of people gathered in front of him
Students gathered in the Michigan League to hear Jackson speak in October 2001. (Photo by Marcia Ledford, U-M Photo Services)
A man speaks into a microphone at a podium outside with many people around him
Jackson was the headliner of several speakers in March 2001 protesting a judge’s ruling against the Law School’s admissions policy. (Marcia L. Ledford, U-M Photo Services)
A man with a microphone speaks to a crowd of people gathered near him
Jackson holds his audience’s attention with decisive statements about the importance of affirmative action and audience participation in chants in October 2000. (Photo by Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services)
Jackson speaks to a crowd of thousands at Crisler Arena during his 1988 presidential campaign. (Photo by U-M News and Information Services)
Two men speak to a group of people gathered in front of and around them
Jackson and President Harold Shapiro at a rally in 1987 in Hill Auditorium negotiating with BAM III members. (Photo by U-M News and Information Services)
Images from various visits to campus by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Click on each image to enlarge and see a description.

2000-present

Jackson was a fervent supporter of affirmative action and spoke several times on campus about the issue.

In May 2002, flanked by students from the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action by Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, he addressed a group of students and media at the Michigan Union after a favorable decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jackson called the 5-4 vote a “narrow decision in the right direction.”

At a campuswide protest of a judge’s ruling against the Law School’s admissions policies in March 2001, he headlined several spirited speakers who addressed a crowd of about 1,000 U-M students, faculty, staff, and off-campus and out-of-town supporters.

He returned to campus that fall to speak to a crowd gathered at the Michigan League on the challenges against affirmative action.

Jackson visited U-M’s campus in October 2000, addressing a crowd gathered at the Law Quad to defend affirmative action at U-M. As he did many times before and after, he spoke of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream and legacy.

“We are living under the King democracy,” he told students. “This notion that each of us has value is only 35 years old.”

1990-1999

Jackson was on campus in April 1999 to address a standing-room only crowd at Hill Auditorium. Speaking on a theme of “Save the Dream-Leave No American Behind,” Jackson challenged students to come together in collaboration “to heal the breach, to make [America] a more perfect union. We can heal the breach by making it more perfect,” he said, “but first we must recognize that it’s less than perfect.”

During a statewide voter registration drive in September 1996, he made another stop at Hill Auditorium, which was packed to hear him speak.

“You don’t have to march from Selma to Montgomery as we did in 1965 (or) face the threat of death or jail,” Jackson told the crowd. “All you have to do is do it. Knowing that your dignity is at stake, knowing that your ability to impact public policy is at stake, I challenge you this day.”

He made a similar visit to campus in January 1992 before departing for Lansing to meet with then-Gov. John Engler about how to help the state’s homeless population in the wake of welfare cuts the previous fall.

1989-prior

During his second presidential bid in 1988, he made a campaign stop at Crisler Arena in March to address a crowd of about 6,000 people.

“There is a credibility crisis in the White House,” he said of the Reagan administration. “Clearly our challenge tonight is to reach out for bold leadership and a new direction.”

That visit marked the one-year anniversary of his previous stop on campus during which he attempted to ease racial tension. During that visit as part of the Black Action Movement III, he met with then-President Harold Shapiro, administrators and Black student leaders throughout the day.

“My mixed emotion is that we’re on the right cause when we fight racism and facism, but in 1987 it’s the wrong agenda,” he said.

Jackson was the commencement speaker in August 1979 at Hill Auditorium where he called for recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization and suggested American universities divest themselves of stock in companies doing business in South Africa.

— Compiled from the Bentley Historical Library, The University Record, and The Michigan Daily archives

— Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original version to reflect the organizer of the 2016 visit to U-M

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