Wil Haygood, Lecture: "The Butler: A Witness to History"

H.O.P.E. Diversity Scholarship Program

Few writers in modern American history have explored this nation’s cultural dynamism with the passion of New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Wil Haygood.

Haygood served as Associate Producer of the award-winning blockbuster film, The Butler, which is based on a story he wrote for the Washington Post.  The film stars seven Academy Award winners, among them Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, and Cuba Gooding Jr.

As a journalist, Haygood has covered some of the world’s biggest stories.  He was in South Africa and watched Nelson Mandela walk out of prison after 27 years.  He was taken hostage by Somali rebels and finally released with the aid of Pakistani troops.  He was one of the first journalists to reach New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and remained on the ground for 33 straight days.

Haygood is the first in his family to attend college and has been awarded the Hurston-Wright Literary Prize, the Deems Taylor Biography Prize; the Great Lakes Book Award, and has received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.

Other H.O.P.E. Diversity Scholarship Program events*:

5 PM – VIP Reception in the Luhrs Center, $80 (Includes dinner and lecture).

6 PM – Dinner in the Tuscarora Room, Reisner Hall, $55 (Includes lecture).

9 PM Book signing following the lecture.

*For more information about the VIP reception and dinner, call (717) 477-1123 x3702.   To order tickets for the lecture only, call 717.477.SHOW (7469) or online at Luhrscenter.com.

Price: $20