Meliora Weekend 2006 returns Oct. 6-8

n exciting lineup of guest speakers, performers, and concerts is on tap for the College's sixth annual Meliora Weekend. Combining Reunion, Family Weekend, Homecoming, and Regatta, the October 6-8 celebration offers alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community members the opportunity to hear experts discuss some of today's most significant issues and to take part in a series of fascinating and entertaining events.

Guinier

Highlights include the Inaugural Frederick Douglass Lecture Series featuring Lani Guinier, the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law and the first African-American woman to earn tenure at Harvard Law School. One of the nation's most sought- after speakers on issues of race, gender, and democratic decision-making, Guinier will discuss "Law, Social Change, and Social Movements" during the lecture on Friday, October 6, and will be joined by Martha Biondi, an associate professor of African-American studies and history at Northwestern University. Also on tap for Friday is a luncheon with ABC News 20/20 news correspondent Lynn Sherr, who will reflect on the legacy of Susan B. Anthony in an event sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership. Sherr also will host the 2006 Stanton/Anthony Conversations about the "Future of Feminism" featuring a discussion by young women leaders about the challenges they face in the 21st century.

Carey

Other Friday events include a joint concert by the University Chamber Orchestra and Wind Symphony, a Neilly Series reading by award-winning author Alan Burdick who will discuss his latest work, Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion, and a "Wall Street" panel discussion examining inflation, oil prices, and global changes affecting the financial world moderated by Simon School Dean Mark Zupan. Don't miss evening performances by the University's own a cappella groups during Friday Night Fever as well as back-to-back shows by comedian Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars featuring veterans of the British and Carey-hosted versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Chu

Saturday's schedule includes a thought-provoking talk by Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria, a homecoming football game in Fauver Stadium, a Kids Kollege with games and special events for children and teens, a Plutzik Memorial Reading by Indian poet Vijay Seshadri, and more.

Zakaria

The Presidential Symposium on Saturday will focus on energy sustainability with panel of international scholars and experts: Steven Chu '70, Nobel Prize winner, a member of the University Board of Trustees, and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Zhou Dadi, director-general of China's Energy Research Institute and a leader in the area of global climate change and energy development; John Holdren, director of the Woods Hole Research Center, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard, and current president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Susan Tierney, former assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Energy and a consultant on energy and environmental economics and policy. University Trustee Hugo Sonnenschein '61, president emeritus of the University of Chicago, will moderate the discussion.

Saturday afternoon President Seligman will join Interim Dean of the College Richard Feldman and University Trustee Francis Price '74, '75S (MBA), who chairs the Multicultural Alumni Advisory Council, for a presentation about diversity initiatives on and off campus. Faculty, staff, and members of the College Diversity Roundtable also will participate, and there will be opportunity for dialogue and questions following the presentation.

Sunday, don't miss the Head of the Genesee Regatta, an all-day event at Genesee Valley Park where some of the top crew teams from across the country, including Rochester's own, will compete.

For a complete list of events and details about registration, visit www.rochester.edu/alumni/melioraweekend.