Press Release

Oglethorpe University Celebrates Georgia Founder's Birthday
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, Director of Jewish Studies, Emory University

ATLANTA – On February 14, Oglethorpe University will celebrate Oglethorpe Day, in honor of James Edward Oglethorpe, the college’s namesake and founder of Georgia.

The celebration will begin at 11:45 a.m. with a bagpipe summons on the Academic Quadrangle, followed by the Petrels of Fire Race at noon. Students participating in the race will try to run the 270-yard loop around campus before the last carillon bell tolls at noon.

After the race, the bagpiper will lead the crowd into the Conant Performing Arts Center for Convocation with keynote speaker Deborah Lipstadt.

Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University and most recently the author of History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving. The book is her account of her successful defense against Holocaust denier, David Irving, who sued her for libel for calling him a denier in her book Denying the Holocaust. Lipstadt is a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and was appointed by Bill Clinton to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.