Dr. Derrick Spires of the University of Delaware is Occidental College’s 2026 Stafford Ellison Wright Black Alumni Scholar-in-Residence. He will deliver a public lecture as part of his residency.
On Feb. 18, Dr. Spires will deliver a keynote lecture titled “Simple Justice: Frances E.W. Harper's Reconstruction.” Associate professor of English at the University of Delaware, Dr. Spires is the author of , which won the Modern Language Association Prize for First Book and the St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize.
Created by Occidental’s Black Alumni Organization (BAO), the Stafford Ellison Wright Endowment enables distinguished Black scholars from a variety of fields, artists, elected officials and others to spend time in residence at Occidental each year. BAO members believe that a student’s educational experience will be enriched by in-depth contact with individuals who serve as symbols of excellence.
