Erika Fox
Reporter
February 17, 2006
Gary Selby, professor of communication at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., and father of Milligan freshman Tyler Selby, lectured in the Student Union Building on Jan. 10. Nineteen students and faculty members gathered to hear Selby's lecture, "The Power of a Good Story: Martin Luther King, The Exodus, and the Civil Rights Movement."
Selby, who holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric from the University of Maryland, focused his lecture on how Civil Rights Movement leaders, specifically Martin Luther King Jr., used rhetorical devices in their speeches. Rhetoric refers to using language effectively and persuasively. He said many social movements are based on metaphors. The Civil Rights Movement, for example, was based around the metaphor of the Exodus in the Bible.
Selby said that using rhetorical devices in a narrative does three things: creates characters the audience can identify with, places the characters in the plot and creates causal relationships between events.
Using these rhetorical devices allowed movement leaders to “theologically legitimize protest,” Selby said.
He used Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1955 speech “The Death of Evil on the Seashore” as an example to illustrate his point.
Selby prompted the group to imagine what it would be like to be African-American during the Civil Rights Movement. Not only was there segregation between whites and blacks during the Civil Rights Movement but the “black community had its own color lines” as well, he said.
Before beginning his career at Pepperdine University Fall 2005, Selby was the founding evangelist preacher of Columbia Church of Christ in Columbia, Md. The church is known for being the first in its area to offer positions in ministry to women.
Milligan College and Pepperdine University are both recipients of the Eli Lilly Grant, a program for “integrating faith and scholarship,” Selby said.
At Milligan, the Lilly Grant has been used to fund projects such as the Sophomore Summit, the meditation garden and the College and Calling class for freshmen.
Thomas, excited to introduce his long-time friend, said, “I think he’s a great deal like me.”
At the end of the lecture, Thomas presented Selby with a Milligan College T-shirt from the bookstore and Professor Dennis Helsabeck joined Thomas in singing a song to bring the program to a close.