Two of our favorite things will be coming together the evening of Friday, April 24th, 2015 at 7:00 pm: Oregon Coast Community College’s Williams Lecture Series, and one of our very own Wilder residents!

Author, professor and Wilder-dweller Virginia Gibbs will be giving a talk on immigration in OCCC’s Community Room. The OCCC campus is directly adjacent to, and entirely walkable from Wilder—you won’t want to miss this informative talk.

Here is a more in-depth look at what the evening will entail from the OCCC website:

On Friday, April 24, Virginia Gibbs will present a compelling discussion about immigration at Oregon Coast Community College’s Central County Campus in Newport.

The talk begins at 7 p.m. in the Community Room at 400 SE College Way in Newport, and is part of the Oregon Coast Community College Foundation’s ongoing Williams Lecture Series.

Gibbs, an author and professor emerita of Spanish now living in Newport, will present a brief overview of current US immigration as part of a worldwide phenomenon, along with an overview of immigration history in U.S. with particular reference to Hispanic and Latino immigration and the Western U.S.

The talk will also include a review of current immigration laws, different kinds of visas, Dreamers, executive orders and more, and how they apply here in Lincoln County.

Gibbs said the talk will also address “how these conform to our values as a country of laws,” as well as “how families and children are affected by immigration and current immigration policy. Is what we do in line with family values as we honor them in our country?”

“What are our values,” Gibbs said her talk will ask, “and how do they conflict with our policies? Can we find a way to create an immigration system that respects our values and those of immigrant families?”

Gibbs is the author of “Shattered Dreams: The Story of a Historic I.C.E. Raid in the Words of the Detainees.” The book chronicles the infamous raid on an agricultural processing facility in Postville, Iowa.

Copies of the book will be available at the presentation.

Gibbs moved to the Oregon Coast two years ago and has been a volunteer with Centro de Ayuda and The Immigration Information Response Team.

The OCCC Central Campus is located at 400 SE College Way in Newport. For more information, visit www.oregoncoastcc.org or call 541-867-8501.

Wendy Williams created the Williams Lecture Series in 1993 in honor of her husband, William Appleman Williams, a noted historian. Williams was known as the “Father of Revisionist History.” He taught American diplomatic history and foreign policy for over 30 years as OSU. His last teaching assignment was at OCCC, where he taught maritime history. Ms. Williams made a donation to the OCCC Foundation to create a fund for the lectures.