N.C. A&T Invites Nominations for 2025 Human Rights Medal

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 22, 2024) – Nominations for the 2025 Human Rights Medal awarded by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are being accepted through Friday, December 6, 2024.

The award recognizes an individual who has made substantial, long-term contributions in advancing civil rights, civil liberties and human rights. A substantial contribution demonstrates a level of dedication or achievement beyond that expected in the normal course of an individual’s work or that significantly empowers marginalized individuals or a community.

The medal honors the extraordinary action against social injustice by the A&T Four – Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin Eugene McCain, Joseph Alfred McNeil and David Richmond Jr. The four freshmen initiated a sit-in Feb. 1, 1960, at a whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth department store, sparking similar protests across the state and country.

Past medal recipients include N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls; the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis; activists and community leaders the Rev. Nelson and Joyce Johnson; and Congresswoman Alma Adams ’68 ’72.

Nominees for the Human Rights Medal must be U.S. citizens but are not limited to the university community. They may be recognized at the local, state, national or international levels, and will be evaluated according to the need they fulfill, the actions they demonstrate, and the scope of their contribution within the community.

The winner will be selected by the University Awards and Convocation Planning Committee, notified in December and invited to accept the award at the annual Sit-In Breakfast program on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at 7 a.m. EST. The recipient must be available to accept the award in person on campus, or virtually if preferred, and must agree to any other predetermined terms and conditions.

Access the nomination packet here: https://ncat.libwizard.com/f/hrnom.

For questions or comments, contact Oliver M. Thomas, external communications director and member of the University Awards and Convocation Planning Committee, at omthomas@ncat.edu or 336-285-2363.