Spring Break
Weldon To Speak At Gampel
Kyle Charette
Issue date: 5/6/07 Section: News
|
Weldon, who has written everything from novels to children's stories to screen plays, will address the crowds of students, parents and faculty in Gampel Pavilion at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
"I am particularly pleased with the choice this year of a writer," said Dean Douglas, CLAS Associate Dean. "Ms. Weldon embodies many of the qualities we want to see in our students: creativity and the willingness to engage in the debate of controversial issues, with a touch of irreverence."
According to Douglas, nominations for the commencement speaker are taken throughout the year from members of the university community and from the general public. The Board of Trustees Honors and Awards Committee receives the nominations and committee members vote for the final selection.
Weldon's writing credentials helped her get the position. She has published over 20 novels, five collections of short stories, several non-fiction books, a number of children's books, newspaper and magazine articles and plays written for stage performance, television and radio. Recently, she has been known for writing scripts for the British television drama, "Upstairs, Downstairs."
Much of Weldon's fiction portrays women dealing with men, family, peers, marriage, modern life and oppression in a patriarchal western society.
Despite living across the Atlantic, Weldon is no stranger to UConn. She visited the Storrs campus for three days in April of last year as the Aetna Visiting Writer in Residence. During her stay, she read some of her works and tutored 10 creative writing students. Most of the students were writing novels and Weldon helped critique and construct their stories.
In addition to Weldon, the selection of speakers for UConn's commencement ceremonies this year is broad and the speakers have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds.
Wolfgang Ketterle, a Nobel Prize winner and John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics at MIT will speak for the Master's and Doctoral students at Gampel Pavilion on May 5.
Be the first to comment on this story