Dear Editor, I would like to expand a bit on the history that Davis Sargeant reported on “Civil Rights and Washington University: a complex history,” Stud. Life, 9/1/11. In 1968, a confluence of events led the normally compliant WU faculty to set up a large number of committees to examine virtually all aspects of university governance.

The history of race relations in St. Louis, Mo. may not be as dramatic as that of Jackson, Miss., recently depicted in the film “The Help,” but the home of Washington University has long been a battleground in the struggle for equity and tolerance.

I just got back from the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Graham Chapel and was deeply moved by professor Bob Hansman’s remarks about the true meaning of King’s life. For those who missed it, Professor Hansman reminded us that King was not a mere dreamer and proponent of conciliation, but a fierce and often critical advocate of true justice.

Like many Wash. U. students, I was disgusted by what I heard and read about the discrimination that occurred at Mothers bar. Students I know and respect were unjustly treated like second-class citizens because of their race. This bigotry is reminiscent of the treatment of blacks before the civil rights movement. This period not so long ago reeked with injustice as “separate but equal” ruled our nation. Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned only 55 years ago.

Co-founded by senior David Dresner, The Right Side of History seeks equality for the LGBT community by engaging straight youth. Over the next two years, Dresner hopes to jump-start a national movement by applying new strategies to gain equal rights for the LGBT community.

As a new resident of St. Louis, it was a pleasure to read up on some of its history in Gail Milissa Grant’s “At the Elbows of My Elders.” This former professor, U.S. Foreign Service officer and Wash. U. alumna, describes her life as the daughter of the late, illustrious civil rights lawyer David W. Grant in segregated 1950s St. Louis.