During the Civil Rights Movement, many injustices were perpetrated against activists who challenged the racist status quo and instead, put their careers and lives on the line to fight for equality. While many of those injustices still need to be corrected, as the New York Times reports, at least Vanderbilt University is owning up to their earlier mistake of expelling a Civil Rights activist in the 1960s:

Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., 78, . . . returned to teach at Vanderbilt this fall, 46 years after the university expelled him for his role in lunch-counter sit-ins that made Nashville a springboard for a generation of civil rights activists. The expulsion of Mr. Lawson, a Methodist divinity student who was one of the nation’s leading scholars of civil disobedience and Gandhian nonviolence, was quickly dubbed the Lawson affair, and tarnished Vanderbilt’s reputation for years.

University officials apologized to Mr. Lawson long ago, honoring him and inviting him back for periodic lectures. Even Harvie Branscomb, the chancellor who presided over Mr. Lawson’s ouster, apologized before his death. But the invitation to return as a visiting professor is a new chapter in relations between Vanderbilt and its famous former student.

“It isn’t often that an institution gets the chance to correct for a previous error,” said Lucius Outlaw, Vanderbilt’s associate provost for undergraduate education, who first proposed that Mr. Lawson be asked here for the year. Mr. Lawson said the invitation came “out of the blue.” He bore no grudge when he was expelled, he said, nor does he today.

In today’s era where the potential for intergroup conflict and hostility is so high, it’s nice to see stories like this that show how reconciliation is possible, even for a big institution such as Vanderbilt University. Kudos to the school, Associate Provost Outlaw for his idea of inviting Rev. Lawson back to teach, and to Rev. Lawson himself for showing us that forgiveness can be very healing.