Keith L. Kelroy Convocation, 2022-23!

Dear Chancellor’s Scholars, 

This November, the Campus Honors Program again will host our Keith L. Kelroy Convocation Event. All Chancellor’s Scholars must attend one Kelroy Convocation during their time in the program, and we typically offer one such event per year.  

At this event, a prominent author or public figure shares insights from their work, and each attending student receives a copy of a publication written by the featured guest. The event is supported by the family of the late former Chancellor’s Scholar Keith Kelroy. 

This year’s guest is the author David Wright Faladé, who is a professor of English at the University of Illinois and the Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He is the co-author of the young adult novel Away Running and the nonfiction book Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers, which was a New Yorker notable selection and a St. Louis-Dispatch Best Book of 2001. The recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award, he has written for the New Yorker, the Village Voice, the Southern ReviewNewsday, and more.

On Wednesday, November 9, we will provide dinner at the Illini Union plus feature Prof. Faladé’s remarks. He will also sign the copies of the books that you will pick up at the Honors House (see below). 

We are limiting this year’s attendance to a maximum of 110 students, which should permit all students who currently need the Kelroy requirement to attend. Seniors and juniors will be given priority, with interested sophomores and freshmen admitted to the event if space permits.  

Please register for the event at https://calendars.illinois.edu/detail/4956?eventId=33442824 at your earliest convenience, but no later than October 17, 2022.  

If you are committed to attend the event, please stop by the Campus Honors House anytime to pick up your free copy of Prof. Faladé’s book entitled Black Cloud Rising any time between 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. There may also be other programming prior to this event (discussion groups, etc.), which will be posted in NewsBytes and other locations. 

Please contact CHP Office Administrator Kelly Edwards (kdedward@illinois.edu) with any questions. 

We are excited to have Prof. Faladé as our guest this year, and to again offer the Kelroy Convocation event opportunity in person!  

Warmest wishes, 

Laurie Johnson