As a part of continuing the institution’s commitment to educating students in an engaging and holistic way, the Ƶ Lyceum Series has been revamped. The series will feature notable headliners that will educate, enlighten and entertain both the university and surrounding communities.
The series is part of the Student Engagement Initiatives program, which is among the institution’s priorities on Ƶ's vision document. The mission of the Lyceum Series is to engage students, faculty, staff, and the greater Tuskegee community. The high caliber features are aimed at enriching the overall education experience for audiences.
Below are the performers and speakers for the 2018-19 academic year.
APRIL 2019
Dr. Paul Kwami, who currently serves as the director of choral activities at Fisk University will serve as the guest lecturer for Ƶ's 28th Annual William L. Dawson Institute for Classical and Folk-Music. When appointed as musical director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1994, the Ghana native became the first African to hold the position. From 1996 to 2003, he chaired Fisk’s Music Department. Under his direction, the Jubilee Singers have received numerous awards — including induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Music City Walk of Fame, a Grammy nomination, and a Dove Award.
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2019 | Time: 1:00 pm | Place: Ƶ Chapel
The Annual Dawson Concert will be held that same evening at 6:00 pm in Logan Hall
MARCH 2019
Dr. Randall Horton will serve as the Ƶ’s Department of Modern Languages, Communication and Philosophy’s Spring 2019 Ellison Lecturer in addition to his role as a Lyceum Series speaker. The award-winning poet’s honors include the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Bea Gonzalez Poetry Award, a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Literature, and most recently, the GLCA New Writers Award for Creative Nonfiction for Hook: A Memoir. His previous poetry collections include The Definition of Place, The Lingua Franca of Ninth Street, and Pitch Dark Anarchy.
Horton, who currently is an associate professor of English at the University of New Haven in West Haven, earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of the District of Columbia, an M.F.A. in poetry from Chicago State University, and a Ph.D. in creative writing from SUNY Albany. He is a member of the experimental performance group Heroes Are Gang Leaders, which recently received the 2018 American Book Award in Oral Literature. He is a three-time Cave Canem Fellow, a member of the Affrilachian Poets, and senior editor at Willow Books, an independent literary press he co-founded in 2006.
Horton also is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and poet-in-residence at Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C. Originally from Birmingham, he now resides in East Harlem, New York.
Date: Thursday, March 14, 2019 | Time: 3:00 p.m. | Place: Brimmer Hall Auditorium
FEBRUARY 2019
Patricia Russell-McCloud is an attorney and motivational speaker. Described as a “visual speaking experience,” attorney Patricia Russell-McCloud has honed her engaging, highly substantive and well-researched speaking style through her 20-plus years of experience on the lecture circuit. She will show the campus community why her “big, broad and animated” speaking style leaves her audiences eager for more when she addresses students on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
She encourages her audiences to surmount every obstacle that stands between them and the possible. Her clients have included national nonprofit organizations, government entities, Fortune 500 companies — and everything in between. Each engagement has left audiences benefiting from Russell-McCloud’s informed, inspirational wisdom and wit.
A native of Indianapolis, Russell-McCloud graduated from Kentucky State University before earning a law degree from Howard University’s School of Law. Before beginning her professional speaking career, she was an attorney with the Federal Communications Commission’s Complaints Branch for 10 years. She currently resides in Atlanta with her husband, Bishop E. Earl McCloud Jr., the 127th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 | Time: 6:00 pm | Place: Ƶ Chapel
JANUARY 2019
Tarana Burke is an African-American civil rights activist from The Bronx, who in 2006, was the first to use the “Me Too” phrase to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. Time named Burke, among a group of other prominent activists dubbed “the silence breakers,” as the magazine’s “Time Person of the Year” for 2017 after the phrase developed into a broader, hashtag-driven movement following a plethora of high-profile sexual abuse allegations.
Now a senior director of programs at Girls for Gender Equity, Burke has dedicated more than 25 years of her life to social justice and to laying the groundwork for a movement that was initially created to help young women of color who survived sexual abuse and assault. On stage, she provides words of empowerment that lift up marginalized voices, enables survivors across all races, genders, or classes to know that they are not alone, and creates a place for comfort and healing to those who have experienced trauma.
Date: Monday, January 28, 2019 | Time: 6:00 pm | Place: General "Chappie" James Center Arena
Jeevan Brown is author, whose book A Lesson Learned is the selected reading for Ƶ's year-long Common Reading Experience. Through his book, Brown dives into the lives of 16 college students as they experience the trials and tribulations that ultimately made them the men and women they are today. Based on true events, these stories are raw, uncut, funny, nostalgic and emotional. From near death experiences, sports, rape, drugs, racism, STDs, finances, fashion, relationships and more, each story gives a detailed account of the pivotal aspects followed by advice, statistics and the lessons the main characters learned from each experience.
Hailing from Landover, Maryland, Brown grew up with a keen interest in music and writing. After earning a communications degree from Johnson C. Smith University, he moved to Atlanta and began writing for Ozone magazine. He later co-founded Demeanor Clothing — a lifestyle brand dedicated to providing high-quality, message-driven clothing, accessories and art. Currently, in addition to writing, he is an IT business analyst.
Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | Time: 6:00 pm | Place: General "Chappie" James Center Arena
ʰշѵ2018
Tonya Terry is a television news anchor for WSFA-TV Channel 12 in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama native wakes up thousands of television viewers each morning as an anchor on one of the country's top-rated news programs. She began her career with WSFA-TV in September 2002 as part of the team of anchors on the NBC affiliate’s “Today in Alabama” morning news program. She also anchors the station’s community-focused show “Alabama Live.” She is creator of the WonderFULL World of Fashion that features only plus-sized models. She also hosts “Eve Expo,” which is a women's conference that has brought hundreds of women together annually to uplift and encourage each other. Terry also values her work is an advocate for victims of domestic violence, bullying and any form of discrimination.
Date: Thursday, September 27, 2018 | Time: 3:00 pm | Place: Brimmer Hall Auditorium
2017-18 Lyceum Series 2016-17 Lyceum Series 2015-16 Lyceum Series