2019 Bill Smith Lecture

I attended the Bill Smith Memorial Lecture by Professor Dean Spade from Seattle Law School. The Lecture honors the memory of Bill Smith, a member of the King Hall Class of 1998 who passed away in 2001. This lecture was established by the Lambda Law Students Association to recognize Smith’s dedicated activism for people with disabilities and LGBTQ people.

I knew Bill Smith. He was related to my wife’s family by marriage. I fondly remember Bill’s elegant graduation party on a warm Davis evening. Bill was a generous soul and as decent a person as you could ever meet. And he believed in the right to basic human dignity. Every year reminds me of Bill’s commitment and dedication to the rights of all.

Professor Holly Cooper, a classmate of Bill Smith’s, shared memories about Bill.  Professors Brian Soucek, Mary Louise Frampton and Camille Pannu were also in attendance.

Professor Spade talked on “Solidarity Not Charity: Mutual Aid for Mobilization and Queer and Trans Survival.” Bill Smith would have loved the Lecture.