Among our beloved traditions, Oglethorpe Day annually celebrates the university’s namesake, General James Edward Oglethorpe, with the “Petrels of Fire” race on the quad and an esteemed guest speaker on campus.

This year, we welcomed Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on death row in an Alabama prison before being exonerated and released in 2015 and now spends his time as a prison reform advocate and Community Educator with the Equal Justice Initiative. Following his speech, Mr. Hinton signed copies of his book The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, and met with students in Politics and Writing classes.

The Petrels of Fire also saw a slight change in 2019, as the construction of the Cousins Center for Science and Innovation had runners take a modified course around the academic quad.

Flip through the photos to see scenes from the day, re-watch the Petrels of Fire, and view Mr. Hinton’s speech above.