The Distinguished Speakers Series features eminent national or international speakers who contribute to current thought in social or political activities, in the arts and sciences, or other realm of contemporary significance. The series is an opportunity to learn from scholars, politicians, and business people, who can inspire students and community members to think critically about current issues, trends, events, knowledge, diversity, and leadership. Events will be co-sponsored by the Office of Student Activities, Student Fee Governing Board, Associated Students’ Government, and the Division of Student Affairs.
Upcoming Speakers
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Recent Speakers
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
Edward James Olmos
We're All in the Same Gang
7 p.m., OUC Ballroom
Named by Hispanic Magazine as the nation’s most influential Hispanic-American, celebrity speaker Edward James Olmos is a respected actor and a passionate community activist. An award-winner on Broadway (Zoot Suit), in film (Stand and Deliver, Selena, Blade Runner), and on television (Miami Vice, American Family), where he most recently starred on the critically-acclaimed hit show
Olmos emphasizes culture, diversity, and racial harmony as the American ideal. In his presentations, Olmos explains his heritage and how it relates to our need to reconcile history books with actual history, as well as the importance of being an activist for the causes in which you believe.
Battle star Gallactica—which has won numerous awards and was named by TIME magazine and Rolling Stone as the best show of 2005. Olmos also directed HBO’s Walkout, a drama that tells the true but little-known story of a group of Chicano students who staged a compelling 1968 walkout to protest the injustices of the public high-school system in East Los Angeles.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2011 
Steve Dealph
Extreme Leadership: Taking the Radical LEAP!
7 p.m., OUC Ballroom
Steve Dealph currently works in corporate Organization Development for Warner Bros. Entertainment in Los Angeles, CA. Each day he gets to help individuals and groups within the company be more effective, and more engaged in the work they do.
Before entering the entertainment industry, Steve spent almost 20 years working in Higher Education supporting students and organizations and teaching them to be more effective and engaged. He worked at Longwood College (VA), Northwestern University (IL) and Miami University in Ohio. He also served as Director of Leadership Education for the North-American Interfraternity Conference, where he developed and facilitated their flagship leadership experience, the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI) and consulted with colleges and universities all over North America.
Steve received his B.A. in Marketing from the University of Southern Indiana and his M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University. He has received numerous awards for his service to higher education, including Outstanding Campus Professional Awards from Beta Theta Pi and Phi Kappa Tau Fraternities, the Southeastern PanHellenic Association, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Fraternity Advisors. The Outstanding Campus Professional Award of the Association of Fraternal Leadership and Values is named in his honor.
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012
Dr. Phil Plait
Bad Astronomy
7 p.m., OUC Ballroom
After earning
his doctorate in astronomy at the University of Virginia, Plait worked
as a NASA contractor at the Goddard Space Flight Center, working with
the Hubble Space Telescope. he began a career in public outreach and
education with the Bad Astronomy website and blog, debunking bad science
and popular misconceptions. The book Bad Astronomy was released in
2002, followed in 2008 by Death From The Skies! Dr. Plait’s television
show, Phil Plait’s Bad Universe premiered on the Discovery Channel in
September 2010.
Dr. Plait has
given dozens of talks about science and pseudoscience across the US and
internationally. He uses images, audio, and video clips in an
entertaining and informative multimedia presentation packed with humor
and backed by solid science.
He has spoken
at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center,
the Space Telescope Science Institute (home of Hubble), the Hayden
Planetarium in NYC and many other world-class museums and planetaria,
conferences, astronomy clubs, colleges & universities, and community
groups. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Pax TV, Tech TV, the
SciFi Channel, Radio BBC, Air America, NPR, and many other television
and internet venues. The Bad Astronomy website receives more than 6
million hits per year and received the ‘Best Science Blog’ Weblog award
in 2007. His writing has appeared in Sky and Telescope, Astronomy
magazine, Night Sky magazine, Space.com, Maxim, the Skeptical Inquirer,
the Huffington Post, and more.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
Kad
ir Nelson
We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
7 p.m., Library and Academic Resources Center, Room 109
Ka
dir Nelson has exhibited his works in art
galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad. His
paintings have been featured in publications such as Sports Illustrated,
the New York Times, and the New Yorker. He also served as the lead
conceptual artist for the motion pictures Spirit: Stallion of the
Cimarron and Amistad. Nelson has also become a respected children’s-book
illustrator, having worked on such award-winning titles as Just the Two
of Us, Under the Christmas Tree, and Thunder Rose.
After graduating from high school, Nelson won
an art scholarship to study at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New
York. Immediately upon graduating from Pratt, he garnered job offers
from Sports Illustrated and Dreamworks. During his professional career,
he has gone on to receive commissions from Nike, Coca-Cola, and Major
League Baseball, among others.
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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012
Dr. Lawrence Hogan and Dr. Robert CvornyekIt Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got that Swing and Music in the Jim Crowe Era7 p.m., Library and Academic Resources Center, Room 109
Dr. Hogan is Senior Professor of History at
Union County College. For the 1986/87 academic year he served as
Visiting Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
He has a Ph.D. in American and African-American History from Indiana
University, an MA in European History from the University of
Connecticut, and a B.A. from Fairfield University.
Lawrence Hogan has had articles published in
major newspapers and magazines across the nation, including the New York
Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the San Diego Union, the San
Francisco Examiner, and the Louisville Courier Journal.
Dr. Hogan has served as a director of Out of
the Shadows, a study of the history of African-Americans in baseball
sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Office of the
Commissioner of Major League Baseball that contributed to the election
in 2006 of 17 pre Negro League and Negro League players and executives
to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Robert Cvornyek is a Professor and chair of
the History Department at Rhode Island College where he specializes in
Sport History. He recently edited Effa Manley’s Negro Baseball...Before
Integration (St. Johann Press, 2006) and published Redefining the
Narrative: Effa Manley, Jackie Robinson, and the Integration of Baseball
in Baseball in the Classroom (McFarland, 2006). His research interests
include sports in Newark, New Jersey and he has authored Baseball in
Newark (Arcadia, 2003) and several articles on the Newark Eagles. He is
currently writing a book on black baseball in New England and curating
an exhibit on race and baseball for the African American Museum in
Boston. He serves as co-director of the program It Don’t Mean a Thing
If It Ain’t Got that Swing: Black Baseball and Jazz. Cvornyek is a
member of the Society for American Baseball Research, North American
Society for Sport History, The Cannonball Foundation, and is a Board
member of the Pop Lloyd Committee.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012
Jennifer Worick
Everything You “Really” Need to Know About Dating, Sex, and College
7 p.m., OUC Ballroom
Jennifer Worick is an experienced public speaker who has appeared
at over 25 schools with her college and dating tips. She is the author
of more than 20 books, and is coauthor of the New York Times
best-selling The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Dating & Sex
and The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College. Other books
Jennifer has authored or co-authored are The Action Heroine’s Handbook,
The Prairie Girl’s Guide to Life, Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life, The
Stuntwoman’s Workout, Get Your Dating Game On, How To Live With A
Man…And Love It!, and Beyond the Family Tree: A 21st-Century Guide to
Exploring Your Roots & Creating Connections. She has appeared on The
Today Show, ABC’s World News Now, NPR’s All Things Considered, and been
interviewed for Cosmopolitan, Allure, Seventeen, the Los Angeles Times,
The Detroit Free Press, the New York Post, USA Today Weekend magazine,
Teen People, Men’s Health, and the Washington Post, among others. She
can always be counted on to provide an insightful, inspiring, and/or
side-splitting point of view.