Committee Announces NSU Centennial Speakers

TAHLEQUAH The Northeastern State University Centennial Lecture Committee has announced the speakers for the Centennial Lecture Series: Elizabeth Eckford of Little Rock, Ark.; Mark I. Pinsky of Maitland, Fla.; and Larry Coker of Fort Myers, Fla.

Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine, will speak on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. in the NET Auditorium on the Tahlequah campus. One of the pervasive images of the Civil Rights Era is that of 15-year-old Eckford, walking alone in front of the school, through a hate-filled mob while being taunted. She will share her experience of the 1957 desegregation of Little Rocks Central High School.

In telling her story, Eckford walks through a painful past. True reconciliation, she said, can occur when we honestly look back on our shared history. Eckford is presented by the Centennial Lecture Committee in conjunction with the Oklahoma Speech Theatre Communication Association.

Pinsky is scheduled to speak on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 at 2 p.m. on the Tahlequah campus. He is the author of the bestselling books The Gospel According to The Simpsons and The Gospel According to Disney. He is currently working on an updated version of The Simpsons book that will discuss religious themes in other animated television shows such as South Park, Futurama, King of the Hill and Family Guy.

Since 1995, Pinsky has covered religion for the Orlando Sentinel. His writing on faith, media and popular culture appears in such magazines as Christianity Today, Moment, The Columbia Journalism Review, Quill, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin. His reporting has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Larry Coker photo courtesy of University of Miami Sports Information.

Coker, an ESPN analyst and former University of Miami head coach, will be the guest speaker on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 1 p.m. on the Broken Arrow campus.

Coker served as the head coach at the University of Miami from 2001 to 2006. Coker amassed a 60-15 record while coaching the Hurricanes and was named the 2001 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year and 2001 AFCA Coach of the Year after guiding Miami to the 2001 National Championship.

Coker had served as an assistant at several universities (including Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State) and as Miami's offensive coordinator from 1995 to 2000 before taking over as head coach. He is an NSU alumnus.

All centennial lecture events are free and open to the public.

8/7/2008

Published: 2008-08-07 00:00:00