Experts on some of America's most pressing issues—sustaining the Earth, dealing with social change, protecting the First Amendment—will participate in the University of Rochester's sixth Meliora Weekend on Oct. 6 to 8.
For University alumni, parents, students, faculty, and the greater Rochester community, the weekend is a magnet that brings people together to hear ideas, react, and learn something new. All speaker programs are free, but a $15 registration fee is required. (For details and to register online, go to www.rochester.edu/alumni/melioraweekend/.)
Among the headliners will be:
- Lani Guinier, one of the nation's most sought-after speakers on issues of race, gender, and democratic decision-making. The Harvard law professor's talk will open the Frederick Douglass Lecture Series.
- Fareed Zakaria, television and print commentator on terrorism, national security, and America's role in the world. He's just returned from a month-long reporting trip to China.
- Steven Chu, Nobel Prize winner in physics and University alumnus, leading the Presidential Symposium on Great Issues of the 21st Century: Energy Sustainability. A panel of experts will discuss how to satisfy our energy demands without creating an environmental catastrophe.
Concern for the environment also will surface in several other programs, including a Neilly Series talk by Alan Burdick, author of Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion, and a student-sponsored panel on how to prepare college students to lead the next generation on how to conserve resources and promote sustainability.
Accomplished finance and money managers—all University alumni—will tackle the vagaries of Wall Street. The panelists will include Dan Cantor, managing director of CK Advisors LLC in New York; Mike Jones, CEO of Clover Capital Management Inc. in Rochester; Joan Lavis, managing director of UBS in Stamford, Conn.; and Brian Roseboro, managing director of Promontory Financial Group LLC in New York. He recently served as assistant secretary for financial markets, U.S. Treasury Department.
The return of "Miller's Court" with Harvard Law Professor and alumnus Arthur Miller will examine critical First Amendment issues swirling in and outside Washington, D.C. Around the table will be distinguished alumni and friends representing the media, law, and government.
Joint concerts with student musicians, exhibits on River Campus and at the Memorial Art Gallery, and a reading by poet Vijay Seshadri as part of the Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series will spotlight the humanities in the life of the University.
The Anthony Center for Women's Leadership will conclude its yearlong work on assessing how far women have come since the days of suffragist Susan B. Anthony with a luncheon program with author and 20/20 news correspondent Lynn Sherr, followed by a discussion with young women working in fields such as politics and international affairs.
Meliora Weekend will close Sunday, Oct. 8, with crew teams competing on the Genesee River in the renamed Head of the Genesee Invitational Regatta in Genesee Valley Park. More than 1,000 college athletes will arrive from the Northeast and Canada for the event, which is free to the public.
Meliora, meaning "always better," is the University's motto, at the center of its seal, and emblazoned on many campus landmarks. Since 2000, class reunions, homecoming, and family weekend have combined as Meliora Weekend to attract more than 5,000 people to the River Campus.
Registration is required for all and can be handled online under Oct. 3. There is no registration fee for University faculty and staff. Early registration is encouraged because seating is limited. The weekend program is organized by the Office of Advancement.
For more information, contact (585) 273-5888 or (800) 333-0175 for callers outside the Rochester area.
Note to editors: Check www.rochester.edu/melioraweekend/ for a full schedule. For jpeg images, contact (585) 275-4128 or sdickman@rochester.edu.