ESU President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D. Invites Community to Participate in One Book, One Campus Reading Initiative; Author to Visit ESU in November for Lecture

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D. has a special invitation to the regional community – come read with us at ESU. During this year’s summer orientation sessions with students, Dr. Welsh challenged incoming students to consider participating in the university’s new “One Book, One Campus” initiative, intended to promote deep reading, critical thinking and campus unity. Supported by a team of enthusiastic faculty and staff members, Welsh announced to the entire campus community in July that the ESU read for 2013 would be the engaging and provocative best-seller, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, written by Wes Moore. She strongly encouraged all students, faculty and staff to pick up a copy of the book and to become part of its conversation.

Now, a few months later, Welsh and ESU’s One Book, One Campus committee are ready to engage students, faculty and staff from the campus community in group discussions, club activities and a special public appearance by Wes Moore at ESU on November 19.  Welsh couldn’t resist the opportunity to open the invitation to participate to the regional community.

“It’s only right to invite our neighbors to pick up a copy of the Wes Moore book and to become engaged in our campus conversations about the many layers of discovery locked in every chapter of this book,” said Welsh. “It is my hope that folks in our community will purchase a copy of the book, read it, and participate in one of the many public readings and special lectures this semester.  Not only can we learn from the experiences of the two Wes Moores, we can learn from one another, too. It’s wonderful to hear our students talk about how much this book has changed their lives and their outlook.”

Welsh attributes the success of One Book, One Campus to the implementation committee that planned the discussions and lectures to bring the book to life. Led by Peter Pruim, Ph.D., professor of philosophy and religious studies, the team that worked on One Book, One Campus includes: Justin Amann ’15, student senate president; Patricia Baylor, Student Activity Association, director of business services; Joseph Knorr, university store manager; James Leiding, Ph.D., professor emeritus of sociology; Shawn Munford, assistant professor of movement activities and lifetime fitness; Edward Owusu-Ansah, Ph.D., dean of the library and university collections and interim dean of the graduate college; Doreen Tobin, D.Ed., vice president of student affairs; and Jack Truschel, Ed.D, Psy.D., L.P.C., chair of the department of academic enrichment and learning.

The author of the Wes Moore book will be a guest lecturer at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19 in ESU’s AbeloffCenter for the Performing Arts. He will also be the honored guest at a dinner prior to his lecture from 5 to 7 p.m. in ESU’s Keystone Room in the Center for Hospitality Management. The lecture is open to the general public at no cost, however the cost to attend the dinner is $75 per person, which includes the meal, a photo opportunity with Mr. Moore, an autographed copy of his book, and a seat at the evening lecture. Proceeds will be used to support the continuation of the One Book, One Campus program.

Prior to his visit to campus, selected faculty and staff will hold public readings and special lectures about different aspects of the Wes Moore novel.  The public readings will be held at 7 p.m. in Lower Dansbury as follows:

September 18: Cynthia Leenerts, Ph.D., associate professor of English; Jeffrey Hotz, Ph.D., associate professor of English; and Richard Franzo, supervisor of the Convenience Store;  

October 2: Stephanie French, professor and chair of theatre, and ESU theatre majors Brandon Cabrera ’16 from East Stroudsburg, Pa., Jamil Joseph ’17 from Bushkill, Pa., Mary Dennis ’15 from Lansdowne, Pa., and Chris Robinson ’16 from North Cape May, N.J.;

October 16: Patricia Kennedy, Ph.D., associate professor of communication studies, and students from the honors section of her speech communication class;

October 30: Alberto J. Cardelle, Ph.D., professor of health studies and interim dean, college of health sciences.

The special lectures will be held at 7 p.m. in the Kurtz Lecture Hall, Moore Biology Building, as follows:

September 25: Uriel Trujillo, director of Upward Bound;

October 9: Paul Creamer, Ph.D., associate professor of modern languages;

October 23: Jeter Smith, Linden Hall resident director; 

November 6: Laurene Clossey, Ph.D. assistant professor of sociology.

About the Author
Best-selling author and guest speaker Wes Moore has taken many leadership roles as an Army officer, Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow, youth advocate, and business leader. Raised in a single-parent household in Baltimore, Moore was drawn toward trouble as a child, enough so that his mother eventually enrolled him in a Pennsylvania military school. This single, determined choice effectively changed the course of her son’s life.

Moore will address this very issue of choice in his compelling keynote lecture at ESU as he refers to his New York Times bestseller, The Other Wes Moore. In his book, he tells the fascinating story of another Wes Moore—a man who shared his name and much of his personal history. About the same age and raised in the same neighborhood by a single mother, this “other Wes Moore” arrived at a starkly different fate: he now serves a life sentence without parole on murder charges. Compelled by their similar upbringings, Moore penned his book in an effort to discover how small choices make big differences in life. A young adult version of the book, titled Discovering Wes Moore, was published in 2012, and movie rights to The Other Wes Moore have been optioned by Oprah Winfrey and HBO Films.

Moore presents the compelling argument that it is support systems—dedicated networks of families, mentors, teachers, friends, colleagues—that have the most profound and lasting impact on one’s life. Drawing on his experiences as a leader in the military, in business, and as a White House fellow—as well as his work in helping large corporations become more involved in their communities—Moore stresses the vitality of leadership in every community, from the smallest school up to the largest Fortune 500 corporation.

Moore graduated as a commissioned officer from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. At Johns Hopkins he was honored by the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame. He completed an MLitt in international relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004.

He was a paratrooper and Captain in the United States Army, serving a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan with the elite 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005-2006. He spearheaded the American strategic support plan for the Afghan Reconciliation Program that unites former insurgents with the new Afghan Government. He is recognized as an authority on the rise and ramifications of radical Islamism in the Western hemisphere.

A White House Fellow from 2006-2007, Moore served as a Special Assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Following his time at the White House, he became an investment professional in New York at Citigroup, focusing on global technology, where he left as a vice president. In 2009 he was selected as an Asia Society Fellow and was named one of Crain’s New York Business’ 40 Under 40 Rising Stars. Two years prior, he was selected as one of Ebony’s Top 30 Leaders Under 30.

Moore is passionate about supporting U.S. veterans and examining the roles education, mentoring, and public service play in the lives of American youth. He serves on the board of the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) and founded an organization called STAND! through Johns Hopkins that works with Baltimore youth involved in the criminal justice system. A featured speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Moore has also spoken at the Southern Regional Conference of the National Society of Educators; the education reform session of the third annual Race & Reconciliation in America conference; NBC’s Education Nation; and the first 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. He has been featured through such media outlets as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Charlie Rose, Meet the Press, The View, and The New York Times, among others.

Welsh hopes the One Book, One Campus program will continue for many years to come. Copies of ESU’s One Book, One Campus selection, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates are available online and in bookstores nationwide. For more information about upcoming One Book, One Campus events at ESU, contact Dr. Pruim at 570-422-3529.

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