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October 19, 2006
No pity
NPR correspondent Joseph Shapiro will address the disability movement, what he calls "the overlooked civil rights movement," in the Diversity Lecture Series on Nov. 8.
Disabled people have created an important, but little known, American civil rights movement, contends Joseph Shapiro, an NPR (National Public Radio) correspondent who wrote the book, NO PITY: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement.
"It's a real civil rights movement," said Shapiro, "and it's helping all of us, especially in a country where the aging population is growing."
Shapiro will address ''The Overlooked Civil Rights Movement: How Heroes of the Disability Movement are Improving Life for All of Us'' at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the Kennedy Union Ballroom at the University of Dayton. Part of UD's Diversity Lecture Series, the talk is free and open to the public. An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be provided. Call 937-229-2545 or write to boxoffice@notes.udayton.edu for other special needs.
The ranks of the disabled are growing daily with the graying of America, but older people (with potentially disabling conditions) have grown up with ''prejudices about a disabled life being a sad and worthless one," Shapiro writes in his 1993 book, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as ''the primer for a revolution."
Disability ''is the one minority anyone can join at any time, as a result of a sudden automobile accident, a fall down a flight of stairs, cancer or disease,'' he writes.
Shapiro, who covers health, aging, disability, and children and family issues for NPR, argues that nondisabled Americans do not understand disabled ones. A friend at the funeral of Timothy Cook, a disabled attorney who won landmark disability rights cases, paid tribute to him with these words: ''He never seemed disabled to me."
That's not a compliment, Shapiro writes. ''It was as if someone had tried to compliment a black man by saying, 'You're the least black person I ever met,' as false as telling a Jew, 'I never think of you as Jewish,' as clumsy as seeking to flatter a woman with 'You don't act like a woman.'''
Before joining NPR in November 2001, Shapiro spent 19 years at U.S. News & World Report, where he wrote about health care and medicine, aging and long-term care, disability and chronic illness, children and families, poverty, civil rights, and other social policy issues. He has won numerous awards, including honors from the Society of Professional Journalists for public service, the Casey Journalism Center for Children and Families for coverage of disadvantaged children, Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy for investigative journalism, the National Easter Seal Society and the Education Press Association. Shapiro's book has won awards from several major disability organizations. In 1997, he completed a yearlong Kaiser media fellowship in health to study long-term care, chronic care and aging issues. In 1990, he won an Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship to spend a year exploring disability issues.
Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, kicked off the 2006-2007 Diversity Lecture Series in September. Upcoming talks include:
* Educator and humanitarian Johnnetta Betsch Cole, 6:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 15, venue to be announced. Cole will keynote the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Holiday Celebration and Presidential Banquet, co-sponsored by UD and the Dayton Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Cole also will headline UD's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the Kennedy Union Ballroom.
* Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 20, Kennedy Union Ballroom. Free and open to the public.
UD is sponsoring a number of other free talks by diverse speakers this year. Sister Mary Antona Ebo and filmmaker Jayasri Hart will speak following a preview screening of the documentary Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 in Sears Recital Hall. An African-American Catholic nun, Sister Ebo was at the forefront of sisters who demonstrated for civil rights in Selma, Ala., in 1965. The Distinguished Speaker Series will host Pulitzer Prize-winning Leonard Pitts at 8 p.m. on Feb. 7, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani, author of Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman's Struggle, at 8 p.m. on March 6 in the Kennedy Union Ballroom.
The Diversity Lecture Series -- part of a larger strategic plan to foster inclusion and diversity on campus and prepare students, faculty, staff and the Dayton community for success in a global society -- is co-sponsored by the offices of the president and provost with support from corporate partners, including the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Dayton Daily News, WDTN, WDAO-1210 AM and Markey's Audio Visual. Previous Diversity Lecture Series speakers included Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Clarence Page and Nikki Giovanni.
Contact Lynnette Heard, executive director of the president's office, at 937-229-4122. To request a phone interview with Joseph Shapiro, call Jennifer Pearl, publicity and events coordinator for NPR, at 202-513-2310.
October 19, 2006 in Speakers | Permalink
October 17, 2006
People of vision
The University of Dayton receives the 2006 People of Vision Award for community leadership.
The University of Dayton will be honored with the 2006 People of Vision Award from Prevent Blindness Ohio for its “outstanding philanthropic works” in the community.
The event will take place at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Presidential Banquet Center, 4548 Presidential Way in Kettering. UD President Daniel J. Curran will accept the award on behalf of the University. A 5:30 p.m. reception will precede the program.
“The University of Dayton has played a vital role in the Dayton community and has demonstrated great ‘vision’ and leadership excellence,” said Taryn Frederick, Dayton development coordinator for Prevent Blindness Ohio. The People of Vision Awards dinner generates more than $50,000 for sight-saving programs provided by the organization and is attended by approximately 200 community leaders.
“UD enjoys a longstanding reputation as a community partner that springs from its Catholic, Marianist mission,” said Curran. “It’s part of that mission throughout our history that propels us to be builders of community.”
In fact, a new national ranking puts the University of Dayton first among all Catholic universities and third nationally in the "extraordinary efforts" it makes to contribute to the renewal and revitalization of its surrounding community. The newly released "Saviors of Our Cities" list recognizes the top 25 universities and colleges that are "exemplary examples of community revitalization and cultural renewal,” among other attributes.
Some examples include:
* As part of the Genesis Project, the city of Dayton, University of Dayton, Miami Valley Hospital, CityWide Development Corp., County Corp. and National City Bank invested $15 million to rebuild the Fairgrounds Neighborhood. Dozens of substandard houses were torn down, 23 new ones were built and another 11 were rehabilitated.
* In June 2005, UD purchased 49 acres of land with buildings from NCR for $25 million to expand campus and spur development by the river. It is believed to be the largest piece of developable land in the city of Dayton.
* UD is collaborating with the Dayton Foundation to help transition four Dayton Public Schools' K-8 schools into neighborhood school centers with the focus on helping students achieve in the classroom and encouraging residents to use the facilities.
* UD has teamed with commercial developers to construct University Place at the corner of Brown and Stewart streets that will include graduate apartments and retail outlets, and Courtyard by Marriott, a hotel near UD Arena believed to be the first hotel construction in the city of Dayton in two decades.
* UD's Rubicon House on Brown Street serves as a neighborhood center. Faculty and students work with neighborhood leaders on numerous projects ranging from developing the area's assets for tourism to educational outreach efforts.
* Every fall, UD sends students "Into the Streets" to paint houses, work in homeless shelters and volunteer their talents at dozens of other community service sites. Other students connect their academic work to the challenges of community leadership and some take a semester off to work full time at area social service agencies. The newly launched Rivers Institute links faculty and honors students with the Miami Conservancy District and Five Rivers MetroParks to find ways to turn the Great Miami River Watershed into a stronger asset for the region.
Prevent Blindness Ohio, founded in 1957, is Ohio’s leading volunteer nonprofit public health organization dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight. The organization serves all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to more than 800,000 Ohioans annually. Prevent Blindness Ohio is an affiliate of Prevent Blindness America, the country’s second-oldest national voluntary health organization.
For more information, contact Taryn Frederick at 937-223-8766 or Linda Robertson at 937-229-3257.
October 17, 2006 in Miscellaneous | Permalink
October 11, 2006
Among the nation's best
School of Law makes The Princeton Review's "Best 170 Law Schools."
“High-tech classrooms,” a “notable program in intellectual property law,” “approachable” faculty and a “tight-knit” community contribute to a positive University of Dayton School of Law experience, according to student responses in The Princeton Review's newly published “Best 170 Law Schools.”
The Princeton Review said the law school's facilities garner unanimous student praise. Respondents described the School of Law as an “architectural jewel.”
“There is no more state-of-the-art law school than the University of Dayton School of Law,” one student said.
UD's evaluation also mentions the school's new Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum that offers three tracks and allows motivated students to graduate in two years. The accelerated program does not sacrifice an excellent legal education, according to a pair of respondents. The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution gave the Lawyer as Problem Solver curriculum an award for excellence this year.
“We chose schools based on our high regard for their academic programs and offerings, institutional data we collect from the schools, and the candid opinions of students attending them who rate and report on their campus experiences at the schools,” said Robert Franek, vice president of publishing at The Princeton Review. “We are pleased to recommend the University of Dayton School of Law to readers of our book and users of our Web site as one of the best institutions they could attend to earn a law school degree.”
The Princeton Review also made note of UD's legal writing program, which has been nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report.
“Best 170 Law Schools” contains two-page profiles of the schools with write-ups on their academics, student life and admissions, plus ratings for their academics, selectivity and career placement services.
For more information, contact Shawn Robinson at 937-229-3391.
October 11, 2006 | Permalink
October 06, 2006
He won the Pulitzer
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Edward P. Jones, who wrote The Known World, will offer a free public lecture on Oct. 23.
Edward P. Jones, author of The Known World, a novel about slavery that won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, will speak at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, in the Kennedy Union Ballroom at the University of Dayton.
The lecture is sponsored by the Lawrence A. Ruff Honors Author Program. It's free and open to the public.
Based on historical facts, The Known World tells the story of a former slave in antebellum Virginia who, upon gaining his freedom, purchases slaves to work for him.
Each year, through the Ruff Honors Author Program, first-year students read a literary work for their Honors English class and then have the opportunity to meet the author and ask questions. Honors authors in recent years have included Billy Collins, Matthew Pearl, Andre Dubus III and Kathleen Norris.
Jones, a New York Times bestselling author, has been awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2004.
His first collection of short stories, Lost in the City, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was short-listed for the National Book Award. He has taught fiction writing at a range of universities, including Princeton. His most recent book, All Aunt Hagar's Children, is a collection of 14 stories, five of which have been published in The New Yorker. He lives in Washington, D.C.
The University of Dayton will host a number of diverse speakers this year. Upcoming speakers include educator and humanitarian Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts. For a full slate, click here.
Contact Anne Pici, writing program coordinator in the English department, at 937-229-3449. For a photo, contact Teri Rizvi at 937-229-3241.
October 6, 2006 in Speakers | Permalink
Business as a calling
Westina Matthews Shatteen, successful Wall Street executive, will headline UD's "Business as a Calling" series.
Westina Matthews Shatteen, managing director of community business development at Merrill Lynch in New York, will headline this year's series ''Business as a Calling: Creating a Culture of Integrity'' Oct. 12-13 at the University of Dayton.
UD's ''Business as a Calling'' annual series was created in response to the corporate scandals that have shaken public confidence in recent years. The series, now in its third year, focuses on exemplary business leaders who have earned the public's trust through their daily work.
A UD alumna and member of the University of Dayton's board of trustees, Matthews Shatteen will serve as executive-in-residence during the symposium, which is hosted by the School of Business Administration and co-sponsored by the Jacob Program in Professional Ethics. She's a native of Yellow Springs.
She will address ''Your Competitive Advantage: Beyond Understanding or Measurement'' at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12, in the Kennedy Union ballroom. The speech is free and open to the public, and a question-and-answer session will follow.
Her husband, Alan Shatteen, a UD alumnus and executive coach of Shatteen and Associates, will join her from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 13, in the Science Center auditorium for a panel discussion, ''Inside the Executive Suite." The panel format is modeled after Bravo Network's ''Inside the Actors Studio,'' and will feature interviews with the Shatteens and questions from the audience. Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend.
Matthews Shatteen holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education from UD and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago. She was the first woman and the first person of color to be elected as a trustee for the Merrill Lynch Foundation and has had a 21-year career on Wall Street. The daughter of a minister, she has said that she has been guided by her father's advice. '''You have an obligation and a responsibility to give back, to pay your dues,' he told me."
She serves on the board of the Executive Leadership Council, a network and leadership forum for African-American executives of Fortune 500 companies. She was appointed by former mayor David Dinkins to serve a four-year term on New York City's Board of Education. The author of the ''Have a Little Faith'' series of inspirational books, she has addressed churches, conferences and campuses across the country.
This summer, she was profiled in The New York Times and also has been featured in Ebony's ''Women at the Top in Corporate America'' issue.
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To arrange an interview or request a headshot, contact Teri Rizvi at 937-229-3241 or rizvi@udayton.edu. To listen to an interview with Westina Matthews Shatteen, click here.
October 6, 2006 in Miscellaneous | Permalink
October 05, 2006
Sixty women take the stage
MUSE, the women's choir from Cincinnati, will perform at the University of Dayton.
A choir of 60 women will soon take the stage in Dayton.
MUSE, the women’s choir from Cincinnati, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the Immaculate Conception Chapel on UD’s campus as part of the University of Dayton’s 2006-2007 Arts Series.
Tickets cost $14 for the public; $8 for UD faculty, staff and alumni; and $5 for students. They are available through the UD box office at 937-229-2545.
MUSE, started in 1984 by Catherine Roma, performs a variety of music, including gospel, folk, jazz and blues. The choir describes itself as “dedicated to musical excellence and social change.” MUSE encourages diversity, community and the empowerment of women.
MUSE began with about 20 women, but continued to grow throughout the years. It made its debut on International Women’s Day in 1984.
The group has produced three recordings, the latest released in 2005 entitled “Growing Into Our Roots.” MUSE performs in approximately 30 venues each season.
For media interviews, contact Eileen Carr at 937-229-2787 or via email at carreile@notes.udayton.edu.
October 5, 2006 in Arts events | Permalink
October 03, 2006
Immigration, peace, ideas
Variety of speakers come to campus with ideas about today's pertinent subjects.
BIKER OF MORE THAN 100,000 MILES ON SIX CONTINENTS TO SPEAK AT UD — Frosty Wooldridge, who has biked more than 100,000 miles on six continents will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in the Kennedy Union ballroom on UD’s campus. Wooldridge’s talk, part of UD’s Distinguished Speakers Series, is free and open to the public. He is working on three books — Incursion into America: How Immigration Adversely Affects American Citizens; Zero Visibility: A Blind Man's Quest for the Summit of Everest, a nonfiction account by Pasquale Scaturro, the man who organized and led blind climber Eric Weihenmayer to the top of Mt. Everest; and "When Your Father Left Too Soon," a nonfiction account of young men who have lost their fathers to an early death.
FEDERAL JUDGE WILL SPEAK AT SCHOOL OF LAW DINNER — Arthur Gajarsa will be the keynote speaker at the UD School of Law’s Intellectual Property Law Society dinner at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, in Keller Hall. Gajarsa, a U.S. federal circuit appeals court judge, began his career as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. He also worked as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Defense specializing in defense systems analysis and intellectual property rights. The speech is free and open to the public. The cost for anyone who would like to attend the dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. and receive continuing legal education credit is $25. Call 937-229-3793 for information and registration.
UD 5K RACE TO BENEFIT THE OTHER PLACE — The Frericks 5K starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, which is during UD’s Parents Weekend, in front of UD’s Frericks Center. The race, which is run though UD’s campus, costs $15 when registering before Oct. 20 and $20 if registering after Oct. 20. Early registrants will receive a race T-shirt. Runners can apply at http://www.keysports.net. It is open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to donate a pair sneakers for The Other Place, a local homeless shelter. Awards will be presented to the top male and female finishers in the following divisions: 10 and younger, 11-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74 and 75 and older. Food and drinks will be provided after the race. For more information, contact Andrew Zeller at 513-379-6737.
UD PRODUCTION WILL EXPLORE “THE TRAGIC GAP” — UD’s 2006 fall Opera Workshop will perform “The Tragic Gap” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 10 and 11, in UD’s Boll Theatre in the Kennedy Union. It is free and open to the public. The opera is based on a concept from A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life written by Parker J. Palmer. “Our intention is that our production will awaken everyone to the roots of conflict within ourselves that are reflected and projected as conflict in the world — not fighting ‘against’ war or ‘for’ peace,” said Lee Hoffman, UD Opera Workshop co-director. An excerpt from Palmer’s book reads, “To be in the world nonviolently means learning to hold the tension of opposites, trusting that the tension itself will pull our hearts and minds open to a third way of thinking and acting. The insight at the heart of nonviolence is that we live in a tragic gap — a gap between the way things are and the way we know they might be. It is a gap that never has been and never will be closed. If we want to live nonviolent lives, we must learn to stand in the tragic gap, faithfully holding the tension between reality and possibility.” For more information, call 937-229-3931 or 937-229-4971, or click here.
For more information, contact Shawn Robinson at (937) 229-3391.
October 3, 2006 in Speakers | Permalink
October 02, 2006
Mary, a feminine touch
The works of Beverly Stoller are on display with "Mary - A Feminine Touch," an exhibit running through Nov. 17 in the Marian Library Gallery.
Icons, paintings and other works by Beverly Stoller are on display in “Mary – A Feminine Touch” exhibit from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays through Friday, Nov. 17, at the Marian Library Gallery, located on the 7th floor of Roesch Library on the University of Dayton campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public. To make special arrangements to view the exhibit, call 937-229-4214.
The 60 works on display include images of the Madonna, Mother and Child, the Holy Family, Christ and angels. The exhibit also includes pieces by Stoller’s granddaughter, 11-year-old Amelia Beverly Stoller, who hopes to continue in her grandmother’s footsteps.
A commemorative Mass honoring Stoller will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Mother of Good Counsel Chapel in Alumni Hall on UD’s campus, followed by a presentation of Stoller’s art at the Marian Library by Rev. Johann G. Roten, S.M., director of the International Marian Research Institute.
Stoller’s artistic creed was to portray the beauty of God’s creation. All of her art was designed to give praise to the Creator and to express the inner beauty of all creation. Stoller worked as a cover designer, book illustrator, lecturer in the arts and a consultant for interior design. She designed the covers for two books on Mary, including one written by Mother Teresa.
For more information, contact the Rev. Johann G. Roten, S.M., at 937-229-4214. For more on the Marian Library, see http://www.udayton.edu/mary/gallery.html.
October 2, 2006 in Arts events | Permalink
