EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 26, 2010) - The University of Oregon's Clark Honors College will mark its 50th anniversary with a reading next month from an alumna's award-winning book and an ongoing exhibition that examines honors programs at the university. The events are part of a yearlong celebration of the honors college anniversary.
Robert D. Clark, then dean of the UO College of Liberal Arts, founded the university's honors college in the fall of 1960. It remains a highly competitive, small liberal arts college of approximately 700 students within UO.
The anniversary celebration continues with a free reading at 6 p.m. May 6 of "Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus" by Ana Maria Spagna, who graduated from the Clark Honors College in 1989. Spagna's reading will be in Room 111 Lillis Hall, with a book signing to follow.
Spagna's book - her second - won the 2009 River Teeth literary nonfiction prize and was released this spring. It chronicles the story of Joseph Spagna and five other young men - three blacks and three whites - who waited in January 1957 to board a city bus called the Sunnyland in Tallahassee, Florida. Their plan was to ride the bus together, get arrested and take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ana Maria Spagna set off on a journey 50 years later to understand what really happened and why.
"The 50th anniversary celebration of the Robert D. Clark Honors College is an opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of our graduates, and to make connections with our students of the future," said Renée Dorjahn, a Clark Honors College alumna and coordinator of anniversary events.
A special exhibition, "Letters, Laurels & Keys: A Tradition of Honors at the UO," will be on display through June at the Knight Library and the Living Learning Center. It shows how the academic successes of UO students have been recognized for more than 100 years, examining the university's historic and contemporary honor societies, honors programs and achievements of student athletes.
The exhibition is curated by Dorjahn and Ian McNeely, associate professor of history and president of UO's Phi Beta Kappa chapter. It explores how honor societies recognize and support undergraduate scholarship, and foster critical thinking and open-minded, active listening.
Anniversary celebrations will expand to both Portland and Ashland during the summer, in collaboration with the Oregon Bach Festival and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. There will also be events scheduled around the country. For more information, visit http://honors.uoregon.edu/50th/
About the Robert D. Clark Honors College
The Clark Honors College (CHC) features small classes and close interaction between students and faculty. It emphasizes interdisciplinary scholarship and independent research in a tight-knit, dynamic community of students and faculty.
The UO honors college is made up of students from departments and schools across the university - from architects and musicians to biology and business majors - with classes designed to foster intense, creative exchanges between varied approaches and viewpoints. The honors college offers a rigorous curriculum in the arts and sciences, fulfilling all UO general education requirements.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 63 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Source: Renee Dorjahn, Clark Honors College 50th anniversary coordinator,
CHC50@uoregon.edu
Media contact: Joe Mosley, media relations associate, 541-346-3606, jmosley@uoregon.edu