PBHA Kicks Off Alumni Weekend

Last Friday, a gathering of students, alumni, and guests assembled in Memorial Church to hear Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, give the inaugural “Robert Coles ‘Call of Service’” Lecture.

The event was the kick-off to the first Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) Alumni Weekend. PBHA President Angelico N. A. Razon ’08 said the alumni weekend and Coles lecture will become annual events.

In her lecture, Edelman shared statistics regarding the condition of children in America, including the fact that a child is neglected or abused every 36 seconds.

“Each of us can say every day that I care and that I’m willing to serve,” Edelman said in her speech.

“She was a phenomenal orator,” said Farrah J. Mateen, a research fellow at the Harvard Medical School. “She exposed statistics that I hadn’t realized that changed the way I think about this country.”

The lecture is named after Robert Coles ’50, who is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities, to honor him for his commitment to social service.

“Bob is the right symbol to be recognized,” Edelman said afterwards.

Coles, whom Razon called one of PBHA’s most famous alumni, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for his book “Children of Crisis” and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Francis S. Assaf ’08, vice president of PBHA, recognized Coles’ importance as a professor and beyond.

“His course on social change really impacted the University,” Assaf said. “He embodied so much about thinking about society in a critical way and working to change the world.”

Howard S. Axelrod ’95, a former teaching fellow for Coles, said that many students remember him as “the professor who made the difference.”

Edelman’s lecture heralded the start of an event-filled weekend for PBHA. “The goal was for everyone to have an opportunity to think about social change,” Assaf said.