Celebrating diversity and racial harmony, the 2010 Harmony Classic started the week with a two-part academic lecture series. The lecture series began on Wednesday evening, at 7:00 p.m. in Dodds Hall. Leadership expert Gary Steele, senior consultant at Learning Dynamics, in Wallingford, Connecticut, presented a public lecture entitled “History – The Backbone of Opportunity.” On Thursday evening, at 7:00 p.m. in Dodds Hall as well, world renowned forensic scientist and UNH professor Dr. Henry C. Lee presented his lecture entitled “Equal Justice – Lessons Learned from High Profile Cases.” These lectures were part of a weeklong celebration of diversity and racial harmony based around the 2010 Harmony Classic.
As always, when Dr. Lee is scheduled to give a lecture at the University of New Haven, a high attendance can be expected. This particular lecture was no exception. Half an hour before the lecture was scheduled to begin, Dodds auditorium was already half-full. Staying true to the expected amount of people who would attend, by 6:50 p.m., the entire theatre had only enough room to stand; sixty to eighty people even had to be turned away from the event. When so many people have to be turned away from an event such as this, you know that it’s got to be good. Packed with students, faculty, alumni, and members of the NAACP, everyone waited anxiously for the lecture to begin.
If you have never been to a lecture given by Dr. Lee, then it is advisable for you to attend one before your time here at UNH is up. It is highly unlikely that there is any other lecture comparable to one of his. Never did five minutes go by without the audience laughing at something that was said. Those are the types of lectures people remember. Those are the types of lectures people want to go back and see again.
Dr. Lee’s lecture focused on the idea of “equal justice” and how it relates to the world, especially the Criminal Justice and Forensic Science world, today. Dr. Lee discussed many details about Forensics as a whole, including comparing it to CSI and the common misconceptions associated with it. He then followed by going through the OJ Simpson case with the audience, explaining how things in this particular case went wrong and what should have been done from the beginning. Dr. Lee emphasized that the job of a forensic scientist is to determine the facts and not to take any particular side.
Sadly, the hour and a half went by too quickly for those in attendance, and the second case was only just briefly skimmed over. Time always flies too fast when Dr. Lee is speaking, but that is what happens when you are having fun. Whether this lecture was a first time lecture for some people or another good one to add to the books for someone else, a good time was had by all. The evening ended with a few lucky people going home with one of Dr. Lee’s book. Of course, many people received one of his standard badges, keychain lights, and stress balls, but one lucky winner even won Dr. Lee’s official ruler. Just remember though, according to the USA government’s standards, it is still 1/1000 of an inch too short.
