S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom
To Speak April 11;
Memorial Lecture Topic Is
'Same-Sex Marriage'

By Pat JaCoby I April 4, 2005

Gavin Newsom, mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, will speak on the status of same-sex marriage during the annual DeWitt Higgs Memorial Lecture to be held at 6 p.m. April 11 in RIMAC Arena.

The keynote speech and panel discussion that follows are sponsored by Earl Warren College; the UCSD Law & Society Program, and California Western School of Law. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is $3.

Joining in the panel following Newsom's address will be Michael Parrish, moderator, UCSD department of history; Barbara Cox, California Western School of Law; John Evans, UCSD department of sociology, and Steven D. Smith, University of San Diego School of Law.

Steve Adler, provost of Earl Warren College and director of the UCSD Law & Society Program, will welcome guests while Craig Higgs, attorney with Higgs, Fletcher and Mack, will present some brief reminiscences of his father, DeWitt Higgs. David Miller, acting senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, will introduce the guest speaker.

Newsom was elected 42nd mayor of the City and County of San Francisco in December 2003 and was sworn into office in January 2004 by his father, William Newsom, a retired state appeals court judge. Since his inauguration, Newsom has become widely known for taking a stance in support of same-sex marriage.

Born in 1967, Newsom grew up in the Bay Area and graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Before embarking on his career in public service, he was a successful businessman. In 1992, he opened his first business, the PlumpJack Wine Shop, Over the years, he expanded his business and created more than 700 new jobs for San Franciscans. He was elected three times to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and served on the Board from 1997 to 2004.

The annual lecture honors DeWitt "Dutch" Higgs, who served on the UC Board of Regents for 16 years, during which time the university was facing unprecedented pressure in the deliberations about terminating Angela Davis and Herbert Marcuse. For additional biographical information and directions, please see http://warren.ucsd.edu/law.