William Raspberry, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist,
to give 2007 Press Lecture
RELEASED: Feb. 1, 2007
 DANVILLE, KY—Renowned columnist William Raspberry will be the speaker for Centre College's 2007 Press Distinguished Lecture on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. The lecture will take place in Weisiger Theatre at Centre’s Norton Center for the Arts and is free and open to the public. Raspberry will speak on some of the pressing social issues now facing America.
"For more than 25 years William Raspberry was perhaps the most respected African-American voice in the public arena," says Milton Reigelman, Cowan Professor of English at Centre. "He brought to public discourse a moderate yet authoritative tone."
Raspberry comments on public policy concerns in education, crime, justice, drug abuse and housing. "I don't enjoy celebrating problems," Raspberry says. "I talk about problems with a view to inching toward solutions."
Raspberry was a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post for nearly four decades until retiring in 2005. His honors include a Pulitzer Prize, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Press Club’s highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award.
Raspberry is a Fellow of the American Society of Professional Journalists, and he has been awarded honorary doctorates by 15 educational institutions. He is currently the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy Studies at Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
The Press Distinguished Lecture Series is named in honor of Kentucky civic leaders O. Leonard and Lillian H. Press.
Leonard Press, the founding director of Kentucky Educational Television (KET), pursued creative ways for the public broadcasting service to deliver high-quality arts programming throughout the Commonwealth. Lillian Press was the founding director of the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program and has held high-level posts with the Kentucky Department of Mental Health and the Bureau for Health Services.
The lecture series was endowed through a gift from the late Lucille Caudill Little, a Lexington philanthropist. Little was a Kentucky native who established a charitable foundation based on family success in the horse and tobacco industries. She played a pivotal role in the founding of numerous nonprofit ventures, including the Lexington Children's Theatre and Studio Players, the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and the Living Arts and Science Center. Little previously supported the arts at Centre, where a classroom is named in her honor in the Jones Visual Arts Center.
- end -
Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/
For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.
Communications Office
Centre College
600 W. Walnut Street
Danville, KY 40422
Public Information Coordinator: Telephone 859-238-5714
|
