EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 5-6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 (a reception at 4:30 pm will precede the presentation)

EVENT: The Women of Color in the Academy Project will present the 2014 Shirley Verrett Award to Charles (OyamO) Gordon, professor of theatre and drama and associate professor of English language and literature.

The program will include performances by opera singer Marcia Porter, cousin and former student of Shirley Verrett, and by Daniel Washington, U-M’s associate dean for faculty and multicultural affairs and professor of voice in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

The Shirley Verrett Award, named after the late U-M professor and world-renowned, African-American opera singer, is given to a faculty member whose work supports the success of female students or faculty in the arts who come from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds.

OyamO, a celebrated playwright, is praised both for his attention to and mentoring of students, as well as his “understanding of human life past racial and ethnic differences.” His plays have been performed in theaters across the country.

A tribute will also be paid to Lester Monts, senior vice provost for academic affairs and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music (Ethnomusicology), for his support and advocacy for the Women of Color in the Academy Project, and for his vision for establishing the Shirley Verrett Award as a way of keeping her legacy alive at U-M.

PLACE: Stamps Auditorium, 1226 Murfin Ave., Ann Arbor. North Campus map: http://campusinfo.umich.edu/maps/north-campus

INFORMATION: The event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested at: http://tinyurl.com/Verrett-Award. A shuttle bus from Central Campus will be arranged and more details will be sent to registrants.

SPONSOR: The Women of Color in the Academy Project was founded by a group of female faculty of color at U-M in 1994. It is funded by the Office of the Provost and administered through the Center for the Education of Women.