UofM's Benjamin L. Hooks Institute Expands Staff and Advisory Board

December 11, 2015 - The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has added several new members to its team.

Dr. Oneka Y. Richardson and Ragan Oglesby-Phillips have joined the Hooks Institute Advisory Board. Richardson is a physician at Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, Miss. Oglesby-Phillips is owner of Ladyfingers Catering and MEDClean Solutions LLC.

Dr. Maria Elena Delavega, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, has been named associate director. A former policy fellow at the Institute, Delavega specializes in the study of poverty and economic development.

Rorie Trammel has been appointed assistant director. Most recently, she was vice president for advancement at the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South.

Joy Sutherland has been named administrative coordinator. She previously managed public relations and communications for a large physician practice.

Will Love has joined the staff of the Institute and the UofM Libraries to digitize portions of the Benjamin Lawson Hooks Papers, Hooks' personal archive of correspondence, speeches, printed materials, administrative files, photographs, and audio and video recordings that pertain to his career as a civil rights activist. Love has extensive experience in curating historical collections and is currently a PhD candidate in Emory University's Graduate Division of Religion.

In 1996, University of Memphis officials received approval from the Tennessee Board of Regents to create the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change in the College of Arts & Sciences. The mission of the Institute is teaching, studying and promoting civil rights and social change. The Hooks Institute archives include Hooks' personal papers, which are housed in the Mississippi Valley Collection in the University's McWherter Library. To learn more about the Hooks Institute, visit memphis.edu/benhooks.

Contact: Gabrielle Maxey

901.678.2843
gmaxey@memphis.edu