Millikin University is pleased to welcome entrepreneur, filmmaker, creative director, writer, mother, feminist and civil rights activist Samantha “Sam” Ramirez-Herrera for the Fall 2025 T.W. Samuels Lecture, part of the University’s Hispanic Heritage Month events.
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. in the Bob & Debi Johnston Banquet Rooms in the University Commons.
Ramirez-Herrera is more than a DREAMer: she is a DOer. Since journeying to the United States with her family at the age of seven, she has dedicated herself to fulfilling her dreams and inspiring others to do the same. Through her work at OffThaRecord.com (OTR), Ramirez-Herrera addresses topics such as feminism, economic justice, immigration, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights and mental health in communities of color. She is a highly sought-after speaker on these issues and more, including gender equality, culture and ethnicity, and diversity and inclusion.
The T.W. Samuels Lecture Series was created in 1977 in honor of attorney T.W. Samuels, senior partner in the Decatur law firm of Samuels, Miller, Schroeder, Jackson and Sly. Samuels was active in Decatur community affairs until his death in 1989 at age 103. Samuels’ sons, William J. Samuels of Menlo Park, Calif., and the late Dr. Thomas W. Samuels Jr., then created an endowment fund to finance the series in recognition of their father. The endowment is used to bring great thinkers and speakers to Millikin for the purpose of community enrichment.