Mikvas to receive 2005 humanities award

The Illinois Humanities Council has announced that it will honor Abner Mikva, Lecturer and Senior Director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the Law School, and his wife Zoe Mikva with the council’s 2005 Public Humanities Award.

The council will honor the Mikvas for their lifelong commitment to civic education and their public understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship at the council’s 30th anniversary gala at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago on Thursday, April 28.

“We are delighted to be honoring Judge Mikva and Zoe Mikva. All of us who care about civic participation value what they have done for the Chicago community and other communities they have called home,” said Arthur Sussman, Illinois Humanities Council board chairman.

The Illinois Humanities Council creates educational opportunities in the humanities for all Illinoisans through films, performances, exhibitions, lectures, seminars and discussions. Organized in 1973 as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the council is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization.

Geoffrey Stone, the Harry Kalven Jr. Distinguished Service Professor in the Law School, will present the 2005 Humanities Lecture preceding the gala, and he will discuss the subject of his newest book, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism. Drawing from the book, Stone will provide a historical perspective on threats to civil liberties. The lecture is free, open to the public and will take place at 5 p.m. in the Red Lacquer Room at the Palmer House Hilton.

For those who have purchased tickets to the gala, a reception will be held from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. in the Grand & State Ballroom, followed by the dinner and award presentation from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Individual tickets for the gala honoring the Mikvas are $250. Call (312) 422-5580 for reservations. For sponsorship opportunities, including the purchase of tables, please call Kate Anderson at (312) 422-5585 Ext. 235.

All proceeds from the gala will support the council’s Future Fund, which will support start-up ventures, experimental or model humanities programs, and innovative, special projects needing immediate project support.

For more information, visit http://www.prairie.org/Gala.