| Sept. 2, 2008 CONTACT: Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, 806-651-2931, rhart@wtamu.edu
Dr. Amy Andersen, 806-651-2609, aandersen@wtamu.edu COPY BY: Rana McDonald, 806-651-2129, rmcdonald@wtamu.edu Convocation to Feature Subject of Readership WT Book Public Invited to Hear Lost Boy of Sudan Speak to Freshmen CANYON, Texas—Valentino Achak Deng, one of the 20,000 Lost Boys of Sudan, will be the keynote speaker at West Texas A&M University’s Convocation for freshmen at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18 at the First United Bank Center. The event is free and open to the public. Seating begins at 4:15 p.m. Deng, a refugee of the Sudanese civil war, is the subject of What is the What, the University’s 2008-2009 Readership WT selection. The book, written by Dave Eggers, is a novel about Deng’s experiences as he escaped his village, hid from government soldiers and fought disease in search of a safe home. The story also relates both details about the conflicts in Sudan and the experiences of refugees in America. Readership WT is the common-reader program launched in 2005 for WTAMU freshmen as part of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan, “Engaging the first-year student.” Every summer copies of the selected reader are distributed to all incoming freshmen to help ease the transition to college and help develop in them a lifelong love of learning and reading. Hardback copies of this year’s book were distributed to all incoming freshmen as well as to members of the WTAMU faculty and staff. As part of the Readership WT program, the University also hosts Convocation, and the keynote speaker has traditionally been the author of the common reader. This year’s Convocation is taking a different angle by featuring the subject of What is the What. “Having Valentino Deng here to speak to our freshmen is very exciting,” Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, associate vice president of academic affairs and director of Readership WT, said. “He can share first-hand the hardship, loss and tragedy that he experienced. It’s something that continues in East Africa today. It will give our students further insight into man’s inhumanity to man and how to fight it.” Deng also will appear at a ticketed reception at 6:30 p.m. in the First United Bank Center Buffalo Room. Tickets to the event, hosted by the Readership WT Ambassadors for Poland, are $100 each and come with an autographed copy of What is the What. For ticket information, contact Teresa Clemons at 806-651-2647. Proceeds from the event will help send winners of a freshmen essay contest to Africa next spring, much like last year’s essay contest sent 20 WTAMU freshmen to Poland. “Last year’s essay winners spent spring break in Poland following in the footsteps of Elie Wiesel, author of last year’s common reader Night,” Lowery-Hart said. “We plan the same contest this year and hope to take 20 freshmen to Africa, where they will work in orphanages and on AIDS issues.” The WTAMU group more than likely won’t travel into Sudan, but Deng often returns to his hometown of Marial Bai in southern Sudan. The village was burned to the ground numerous times during the civil war, and the Valentino Deng Foundation is helping rebuild the village. One of the construction projects is an educational center. The Foundation is using proceeds from the sale of the WTAMU hardback books to build a wing on the center’s secondary school complex. The completed wing will feature a sign designating West Texas A&M University as a contributor. For more information about WTAMU’s Convocation, contact Lowery-Hart at 806-651-2931. Previous Readership WT selections:
2005: A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind
2006: What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson
2007: Night by Elie Wiesel
—WTAMU— | 
