Honors College Convocation

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  Mireya Mayor. Honors Spring Convocation 2021

  Mireya Mayor and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  A former NFL cheerleader, daughter of Cuban immigrants and mother of six, Mireya Mayor followed her unlikely dreams. In short order, she became a respected primatologist, audacious explorer, fellow of the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Scholar and an Emmy Award-nominated wildlife correspondent for the National Geographic Channel. Mayor’s exploits have earned her the nickname “the female Indiana Jones,” but the fashion-loving anthropologist always packs a black dress for more formal occasions.

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  The Transformational Power of Honors Education at the University of Mississippi: Markeeva Morgan, Patrick Woodyard, Sarah Barch. Honors Fall Convocation 2022

  Markeeva Morgan, Patrick Woodyard, Sarah Barch-Gill, and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Former NASA engineer Markeeva Morgan, Nisolo founder-CEO Patrick Woodyard, and poet and teacher Sarah Barch-Gill are featured speakers for the event, which is part of the college’s 25th anniversary celebration.

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  From Troubled Childhood to Rhodes Scholar. Caylin Moore. Honors Fall Convocation 2021

  Caylin Moore and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  By taking advantage of the limited educational opportunities in his community, Caylin Moore excelled through high school and college. As a student-athlete at Texas Christian University, he became founder and president of S.P.A.R.K., a community outreach organization encouraging youth to pursue education as a means of community uplift. He went on to become a US-UK Fulbright Summer Institute fellow at the University of Bristol and a Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute fellow at Princeton University. After graduating from TCU, the Rhodes scholarship allowed him to study public policy and earn a master’s degree in Latin American studies at the University of Oxford. Moore received critical acclaim for his debut book, “A Dream Too Big: The Story of an Improbable Journey from Compton to Oxford” (Thomas Nelson, June 2019). The book, which details his against-all-odds journey from the poverty of a gang-ridden Los Angeles community to becoming a Rhodes scholar, has been featured by ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the Hallmark Channel and other many other media outlets. Moore’s book also was named a Good Morning America Anchor’s Favorite Books of 2019 and was an Amazon bestseller in sociology of urban areas. It has drawn widespread praise from notable figures. New York Times bestselling author Ron Hall called his book “an inspiring tale that should be mandatory reading for every student, parent, and anyone else interested in the success of those who will shape and define our future.” Emmy Award-winning anchor and pro football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan said, “What an inspiring story. How he was able to use his wits and his smarts to stay out of trouble and to excel in life … I thought that this book needed to be put out there in the forefront because you can never have a dream too big to accomplish.” Pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University, Moore focuses his research on issues of gang violence, poverty and how they are affected by policies that have been implemented to harm African American and Latino communities.

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  Kiese Laymon. Honors Spring Convocation 2020

  Kiese Laymon and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Kiese Laymon is the Ottilie Schillig Professor in English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. His keynote address will cover the topic, "What unites us?" His recent memoir “Heavy” has been recognized as a top book by multiple outlets, including The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly. It has been honored with several of the highest awards in literature, including the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. "Heavy" describes, often with brutal honesty, the successes, failures, happiness and sadness of growing up as an overweight black child in Jackson, and the adult that upbringing eventually created. His savage humor and clear-eyed perceptiveness have earned him comparisons to Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alice Walker and Mark Twain. Besides “Heavy,” he is also the author of the groundbreaking essay collection “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America” and the genre-defying novel “Long Division.” He is also working on another novel, “And So On.” In addition to Gawker, Laymon has written for Esquire, Guernica, The Oxford American, Lit Hub and many others. A graduate of Oberlin College, he holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Indiana University.

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  Jukebox. Brian Foster. Honors Spring Convocation 2019

  Brian Foster and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Brian Foster is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Southern Studies. He studies and writes about race and place, with special emphasis on questions and stories of racial stratification, regional development, and culture. Most recently, his work has focused on black communities in the “Delta” and “Hill Country” regions of Mississippi.

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  Leadership in Turbulent Times. Doris Kearns Goodwin. Honors Fall Convocation 2019

  Doris Kearns Goodwin and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  A renowned presidential historian and public speaker, Goodwin received critical acclaim for her seventh book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times” (Simon and Schuster), published last year. The New York Times bestseller is a culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career of studying the American presidents. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Goodwin earned her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Colby College and Harvard University. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream,” “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga,” “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” and “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.” Goodwin’s book, “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II,” won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. She also has played herself as a teacher on “The Simpsons” and a historian on “American Horror Story.” She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979 and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team.

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  Freedom for All: Katie Ford with Shandra Woworuntu. Honors Spring Convocation 2018

  Katie Ford, Shandra Woworuntu, and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Katie Ford, the legendary former CEO of the iconic Ford Models Inc. modeling agency, and founder and CEO of the anti-human trafficking foundation Freedom for All, will be joined onstage by Shandra Woworuntu, a survivor of human trafficking who is another leader in the fight against human trafficking around the world. After selling Ford Models in 2007, Ford chose to further develop her philanthropic interests, including founding Freedom for All. The foundation creates programs and media campaigns to combat human trafficking in all its forms, including sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor and child labor. For her anti-human trafficking work, Ford has received numerous honors, including the Women Together Award at the United Nations and the Changing the Game Award from the Advertising Women of New York, both in 2010. She has served as a member of the UN Give Women Leaders’ Council and sits on the board of directors of Verite, the leading international business adviser on forced labor.

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  20th Anniversary. Fred Smith, Founder and CEO of FedEx. Honors Fall Convocation 2017

  Fred Smith and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Legendary FedEx founder and CEO Frederick W. Smith challenged University of Mississippi honors students Tuesday (Sept. 12) to continue having academic conversations with the aim of developing workable solutions to national and global problems. Smith was the keynote speaker for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College’s Fall Convocation at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Celebrating the college’s 20th anniversary, the program also featured Silicon Valley icon and Ole Miss alumnus Jim Barksdale, who introduced Smith.

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  An Evening with David Brooks. Honors Fall Convocation 2016

  David Brooks and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  New York Times columnist and acclaimed author David Brooks encouraged students to explore and find what they are passionate about while in college.

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  Trio Concert Dance: Alessandra Ferri, Herman Cornejo, Bruce Levingston. Honors Spring Convocation 2016

  Alessandra Ferri, Herman Cornejo, Bruce Levingston, and University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

  Legendary dancer Alessandra Ferri, one of the world’s most celebrated dancers, holds the rare title of prima ballerina assoluta. She was recently awarded the coveted Olivier Award for a second time in London. Herman Cornejo, an Argentinian ballet star who, at 16, was the youngest winner of Moscow International Ballet Competition, is a virtuoso dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Bruce Levingston, who recently performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, has been hailed by The New Yorker as “a force for new music” and The New York Times for his “mastery of colors and nuance.” Ferri, Cornejo and Levingston will present a night of choreographed works, and Levingston will perform the music of Chopin, Debussy, Glass, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Satie. Levingston also will be joined by other musicians from Ole Miss to create a musical ambiance that will highlight these illustrious dancers’ magical art. The three performers have performed to critical acclaim throughout the world. One critic wrote of their New York City premiere performance together: “The combination of these three great artists is more than the sum of its parts. The Ferri-Cornejo partnership is as full of rapture and poetry as that legendary pairing of Fonteyn and Nureyev. “For his part, pianist Bruce Levingston was the perfect third to bring in and elevate this into a true concert and dance performance. Levingston’s playing was sublime throughout.” Ferri, Cornejo and Levingston will perform works together that have been created especially for them by such distinguished choreographers as Russell Maliphant and Wayne McGregor. Cornejo also will perform a tango that he choreographed, and Levingston will play a number of solo works from his most recent recording.