On Wednesday, May 2, 2012, a powerful group of 400-500 leaders of industry, business, arts, politics, community and culture will gather at the Plaza Hotel Ballroom in New York to honor Julian Bond through music and spoken word for his long history as a civil rights leader. The gala will also serve as a fundraiser to create the Julian Bond Professorship in Civil Rights and Social Justice that will advance the teaching and interpreting of civil rights studies at the University of Virginia. The professorship will create a powerful synergy among the many faculty and students who are working to shed new light on the civil rights movement and the African American experience.