The recently-announced speaker slate for the fall Assembly Series features an emphasis on issues of race and the criminal justice system.

Five of the 11 lectures will continue the discussion started last year in the wake of events in Ferguson, while the other speakers will address topics such as writing, theater and science.

Assembly Series organizers hope that this year’s lectures will help attract more students to the Assembly Series, which used to be attended by a majority of students.

For most of the series’ 62-year history, lectures were held at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays in Graham Chapel and had a large student following; this hour-long period was considered “sacred” and classes were not allowed to be scheduled at that time.

As the University grew, that time slot became more and more valuable. According to Director of the Assembly Series Barbara Rea, by 2007, classes were being scheduled for the Assembly Series time slot, and turnout was never the same.

In response to the declining attendance, Student Union questioned how they could justify the speaker budget if students weren’t making it to the events.

“We were still holding it Wednesdays at 11,” Rea said. “So because of that, [the current Student Union president] was absolutely right and said, ‘I can’t in good conscience give you a lot of money if students can’t come,’ and I had to agree. So we made a policy change.”

Lectures were then moved to various times and locations on campus. Student groups were also granted more input, as they were allowed to propose speaker ideas.

Wednesday mornings were no longer part of the tradition. Now, Rea hopes to restore the former glory of the Assembly Series.

“It really went through a very dramatic change, and it changed the whole ritual part of that, which we’re trying to restore again,” Rea said.

One change that will be sustained is the more inclusive process for selecting speakers. A single committee, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, along with key administrators, decides and schedules the speakers, and often partners with schools and groups at the University.

“It’s just much more collaborative. It’s transdisciplinary because we’re all interested in the same subjects it seems. It’s been kind of astounding how many people, how many groups are interested in the same topics,” Rea said.

Sophomore Kristen Patino is most excited to hear speaker Rebecca Ginsburg, whose talk “Why Universities Should Be in Prisons” will address why prisoners should have access to higher education.

“I think she raises a really good point. I’ll be interested to hear what she has to say, especially to students. I can’t wait,” Patino said.

The series will begin on Wednesday with a lecture on income and wealth disparities across races by sociologist Melvin Oliver.

Other speakers on the list were Claudia Rankine; John Chisholm and Ronald Simpson-Bey; Jennifer Eberhardt; Elisabeth Lloyd; Anca Parvulescu; Christine Souffrant; Jay Winter; Paul Farmer and Meghan Daum.

Note: Senior News Editor Emily Schienvar is on the Assembly Series committee. She was not involved with the writing or editing of this article.