In collaboration with the Iowa State Lecture Series, Jane Elliott, Iowan and esteemed educator spoke on prejudice and her famous blue eye, brown eye exercise on Thursday.

The Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall was filled with students, faculty, staff and community members. Audience members could be heard sharing their excitement to hear Elliot speak. 

“I came today because I’m an elementary education major and I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about the history of education more in-depth,” Olivia Kremer, a sophomore studying elementary education, said. 

The lecture was a question-and-answer style session, with members of the audience being prompted to text a phone number to submit their questions.

After a brief introduction, Elliott took the stage, resulting in an eruption of applause. 

“I am an educator,” Elliott said. “An educator is engaged in the act of leading people out of ignorance and we have not done that where racism is concerned in this country.”

The lecture was moderated by Dr. Monic Behnken, an associate dean in the Department of Sociology and director of the leadership studies program.

Behnken sat next to Elliott throughout the lecture, prompting her with questions when necessary. The pair had previously met, resulting in a playful banter between the two.

“When we talked, you described it as an exercise in empathy,” Behnken said, reminding Elliott of her experiment.

The pair practically injected the auditorium with energy as they cracked jokes, shared somber moments and took audience polls.

Elliot, now 91 years old, was made famous for her blue eye/brown eye exercise, which she introduced to her third-grade students the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The purpose of this exercise was to teach her students the impact discrimination and prejudice can have on others. 

To perform this exercise, Elliott split her class into brown-eyed and blue-eyed students. To start, she told the blue-eyed students that brown eyes were less than blue eyes. This resulted in discrimination towards the brown-eyed students. Then, she switched the exercise and told her class that brown eyes were superior to blue eyes. This resulted in discrimination towards blue-eyed students. When reflecting on how it felt to be discriminated against, students realized the true impact that discrimination and prejudice can have on others. 

“There’s only one race on earth, and that’s the human race,” Elliott said. 

Now, Elliott is a world-famous anti-racism educator. Through her story, she continues to share her exercise with other educators, students and interested community members.

To start the event, Elliott lectured the audience about their biases and prejudices. 

“There are no white people, there are no black people, there are no yellow people, there are no red people,” Elliott said. 

Elliott discussed the current political climate and commented on her fear regarding President Trump’s inauguration. 

“You have the right to be as you’re born,” Elliott said. She continued by urging the audience to stand up for their beliefs, especially in a time of political transition.

Continuing the lecture, Elliot discussed how she felt the moment she heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

“I cannot forget how that hit me,” Elliott said. “Martin Luther King Jr. did something that was terrifically courageous… and he sacrificed his life for it.”

The rest of the lecture was spent by Elliott sharing her motivation for anti-racism education, as well as the question and answer portion of the event.

At the end of the Lecture, Elliot held a book signing for “Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes”, written by Stephen Bloom. This book highlights the exercise designed by Elliott as well as her education journey. 

“Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes” by Stephen Bloom can be purchased online or in stores. 

For more information on the Iowa State Lecture Series, visit their website.