UR and VCU Partnership Brings Award Winning Author Toni Morrison to Richmond
September 5, 2002
The Richmond community will have the rare opportunity in early October to hear from Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, author of "Sula," "Song of Solomon," "Beloved," "Paradise" and other acclaimed novels.
Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond have partnered to bring Morrison to Richmond for two appearances - one at each university - Oct. 2 and 3.
Morrison will read from her works and answer questions at VCU's Siegel Center, Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The next afternoon, Thursday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m., she appears at the Robins Center at the University of Richmond to lecture on the general topic of "Literature as an Agent of Social Change."
Both events are free and open to the public. Advance tickets are required and may be reserved by calling VCU at 828-3836 for the Oct. 2 Siegel Center event and UR at 289-8980 for the Oct. 3 Robins Center event. Tickets for the Oct. 2 VCU event also are available at the Siegel Center box office and at area Barnes & Noble Booksellers locations.
The Morrison events are an important piece of programs at both institutions. At Virginia Commonwealth University, her appearance is part of the yearlong series on Literature, Crisis and the Community sponsored by the VCU Honors Program and the Department of English. At the University of Richmond, Morrison's visit is an integral part of its biennial Richmond Quest, the campus-wide academic program that this year is focused on the question: "When does discovery inspire change?"
Morrison has won numerous prestigious awards for her work, including the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award. In 1996, she received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She has served on the National Council of the Arts for six years and is a member of Africa Watch and the Helsinki Watch Committees on Human Rights.
About VCU:
Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation
as one of the nation's top research universities. Located on two campuses
in Richmond, Va., VCU enrolls 25,000 students in more than 160 undergraduate,
graduate, professional, doctoral and post-graduate certificate degree
programs at 11 schools and one college. Sixteen graduate and professional
programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the
best of their kind in the nation. The VCU Health System is one of the
leading academic medical centers in the country. VCU recently launched
VCU Life Sciences, a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate program
involving academic and medical faculty. In addition, the university is
developing the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in collaboration with
business, civic and government leaders. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
About UR:
The University of Richmond is a private, highly selective university consistently
ranked among the nation's top universities by all college guides. Richmond
is noted for its challenging academic programs, excellent facilities,
commitment to undergraduate education and strong financial resources--including
an endowment exceeding $1 billion. The university has a full-time enrollment
of approximately 3,400 in schools of arts and sciences, business, law,
and leadership studies. In addition, some 1,300 part-time students take
evening and weekend classes through the School of Continuing Studies.
Over 90 percent of full-time undergraduates live on campus, more than
half are involved in internships, and two-thirds participate in community
service. The campus, listed as one of America's most beautiful, is located
six miles west of downtown Richmond, Va.
Contact:
Pam Lepley
Director, VCU News Services
Phone: 804/828-6057
E-mail: pdlepley@vcu.edu
www.vcu.edu/uns
Brian Eckert
Director, UR Media and Public Relations
Phone: 804/287-6659
E-mail: beckert@richmond.edu