Featured Speaker Series
In order to provide additional assistance in making your transition to UF, New Student Programs and the Division of Student Affairs presents the Featured Speaker Series. These speakers will cover areas of college life and touch on subjects that students will encounter during their college careers.
Fall 2009 Events
Amanda Butler, Head Women's Basketball Coach
Thursday, September 10 at 7:00pm
Location: Hillel Mutipurpose Room (2nd Floor)
Crossing the BLVD Performance
*Common Reading Program Event*
Thursday, October 1 at 7:00pm
Location: Constans Theatre
The Inconvenient Truth About Immigration
Presented by Dr. Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Director of the Center for the Study of
Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University
*Common Reading Program Event*
Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30pm
Location: Reitz Union Grand Ballroom
The New Rules for Tomorrow's Business: A Student's Guide
to Making a Difference in the World
Presented by Blake Mycoskie, Founder of TOMS Shoes
Wednesday, November 4 at 8:00pm
Location: Curtis M. Phillips Center
*PLEASE NOTE: THIS INFORMATION HAS CHANGED*
Amanda Butler, Head Women's Basketball Coach - Third year Florida head coach, Amanda Butler, will speak about her team's "guidelines to success" and how they are applicable to Florida students. The Florida graduate will speak first hand on her experience as an undergraduate at UF and the significance of the Gator Nation. You don't want to miss this!
Crossing the BLVD - Crossing the BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America by documentary artists Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan is a cross-media project that documents and portrays the largely invisible lives, images, sounds and stories of new immigrants and refugees who live in the borough of Queens, New York — the most ethnically diverse locality in the United States. Home to the New York airports, Queens, is no longer made up of neatly partitioned ethnic enclaves. Today the choreography of Queens, a place where residents speak 138 different languages, is one of chaotic co-existence. This group portrait of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial community is a magnifying glass for the future of America.
The Inconvenient Truth About Immigration - Dr. Hu-DeHart will explore the history of immigration to the United States and the current state of affairs. As a nation of immigrants, this country has suffered recurrent misgivings about immigration and immigrants. Throughout the ages, there have been those designated desirable and not-desirable. Today, the not-desirables are the so-called “illegal aliens,” who total as many as 12 million, increasingly criminalized, feared and despised. Who are these illegal immigrants? when and why was this category created in the first place? which nationalities and ethnic groups have been caught in its wide net? What are the implications for children and youth stuck in this status as far as their educational pursuits are concerned? Join us to learn about the legacy of immigration in the United States, and how you can be a change agent for equity.
The New Rules for Tomorrow's Business: A Student's Guide to Making a Difference in the World - With the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and the rise of social media, a new generation of socially conscious students -- tuned-in, tech savvy, and ready to engage the world -- has emerged on college campuses. And they're flocking to a new breed of businesses and social movements. With its unique One for One promise, the message of TOMS Shoes has swept campuses across the country. In this spirited talk, Blake Mycoskie relates his transformation from "typical business guy," motivated by just money and success, to the founder of TOMS Shoes, a company that advocates "doing good by doing well." For young people about to enter the "real world," Mycoskie will show that it is possible to go your own way, to achieve success without sacrificing your dreams, and to make a difference in the world -- all at the same time. In order to seize the day -- Carpe Diem -- one has to be familiar with the new set of societal and business rules facing young graduates. In exploring the elements that have contributed to the success of TOMS Shoes, Mycoskie not only shows students a model of sustainable business practice, he also inspires them to go out and create their own, based on their lives and passions.