Distinguished Lecture Series
Butler's Celebration of Diversity Distinguished Lecture Series
began in 1987 to provide Butler University and the greater
Indianapolis community an avenue to promote ethnic diversity and
multicultural awareness through increased interaction with high
profile multicultural scholars, dignitaries and personalities.
Distinguished Lecture Series Fact Sheet
(PDF)
Past lecturers have
included:
- Dr. Maya Angelou, Inaugural Poet, Author, Actress and
Director
- Carole Simpson, Journalist and Weekend Anchor, ABC Evening
News
- Dr. Joseph Lowery, Civil Rights Activist
- Spike Lee, Actor and Director
- Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Surgeon General of the United States
- Kimberly Aiken, Miss America 1994
- Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Civil Rights Activist
- Dr. Makiziwe (Maki) Mandela, Educator and daughter of Nelson
Mandela, President of the Republic of South Africa
- Robert Townsend, Actor, Director and Comedian
- Dr. Phakamile Gongo, first Black Secretary General of the
Embassy of South Africa
- Dr. Bertice Berry, Award-winning Lecturer, Comedienne, and talk
show host
- Morris Dees, Co-founder and Chief Attorney, Southern Poverty
Law Center
- Myrlie Evers-Williams, Civil Rights Activist and Chairperson of
the National Board of Directors of the NAACP
