The University of Dayton will be presenting four nationally acclaimed writers and an environmental activist as part of its 2005-2006 Diversity Lecture Series.

Kicking off the year, Bebe Moore Campbell will offer a free talk at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15 in the Sears Recital Hall.

Campbell is currently a novelist, journalist and National Public Radio 'Morning Edition' commentator and has written numerous books including the NAACP Image Award for Literature winner and New York Times' notable book winner, Your Blues Ain't Like Mine. Other books include Brothers and Sisters, and the Los Angeles Times 'Best Book of 2001,' Singing in the Comeback Choir.

Campbell's interest in mental health was the root for her first children's book, Sometimes my Mommy Gets Angry, which won the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) Outstanding Literature Award in 2003.

Setting the books down, Campbell has also found time as a journalist, having written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Ebony magazine, as well as other publications.

Clarence Page will headline two events on Jan. 16-17 at the Dayton Convention Center and the Kennedy Union Ballroom, respectfully.

Page is a nationally syndicated columnist from the Chicago Tribune and is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Born in Dayton, he is an essayist for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and a member of the program's panel of regional newspaper editors and columnists.

Page will speak on 'The March to the New Century' at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 16. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Holiday Celebration and Presidential Banquet in collaboration with the Dayton chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Council and UD.

Tickets are $50 and those seeking more information should call (937) 268-0051.

On Jan. 17 he will speak on 'Keeping the Dream Alive' at 7:30 a.m. at UD's annual Martin Luther King Jr. prayer breakfast.

Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for faculty, staff, and the general public. Tickets are limited, and additional information can be obtained by calling Rosmary O'Boyle at (937) 229-2229.

Nikki Giovanni will be reading the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar, as well as her own poetry, as part of the Celebrate Dunbar! community events honoring the life and work of Dunbar 100 years after his death.

The readings will take place at 8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17, at the Victoria Theater. The world-renowned author and poet has written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays. Since 1987, she has taught writing and literature at Virginia Tech.

Her appearance is co-sponsored by UD's English department and the Victoria Theater. Tickets are from $12 to $18. Additional information can be acquired by calling (937) 228-3630 or (937) 229-2545.

Native American activist and author Winona LaDuke will speak on 'Recovering the Sacred: Religion, Faith and the Land from a Native Woman's Perspective' at 8 p.m., Monday, Mar. 6, in the Kennedy Union Ballroom. Free and open to the public, her speech is cosponsored by UD's Distinguished Speaker Series.

LaDuke has served as Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader's running mate in 1996 and 2000, and is the program director of Honor the Earth and the founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project. Ms. Magazine's 1997 Woman of the Year and winner of the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1998, LaDuke has written the novel Last Standing Woman and the nonfiction book All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life.

Thursday, April 6 at 8 p.m., author, scholar and cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson will conclude the series with a free talk at the Kennedy Union Ballroom.

Called the nation's preeminent spokesman for the hip-hop generation, Dyson is a prolific author who's written 11 books in 12 years; most recently writing Is Bill Cosby Right? Or has the Black Middle Class Lost Its mind?. His books, which usually are best sellers, include The Michael Eric Dyson Reader, Open Mike; Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, just to name a few.

At the University of Pennsylvania he is the Avalon Founding professor in the humanities.

The Diversity Lecture Series has presented notable speakers such as Andrew Young, Brian McNaught, Dr. Roger Daniels and Coretta Scott King.

This year, Troy Duster, president of the American Sociological Association, kicked off the series. The Diversity Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Offices of the President and Provost with support from corporate partners, including the Dayton Daily News, WHIO-TV, and WDAO-1210 AM.