Dinner, Dessert and Discussion Series:
This program is intended for Houses to invite guest speakers to visit campus, and enjoy their company and hear from them over an informal dinner at one of the Minerva Houses. The Minerva Programs Office will pay all, or depending on the fees of the guest, a portion of the honorarium, lodging, and transportation for the guest to and from campus. The series is aimed at having a mix of speakers with varying interests and views. We aim to have each House host one guest each year. If you are interested in submitting a name for consideration, please contact Tom McEvoy. Since this program is popular, the earlier you submit your request the better.
Several speakers came to campus to share dinner and discussion in the Houses in the '07-'08 year. Wold House hosted poet Jay Wright. Beuth House hosted editor of 'Poz Magazine', Regan Hoffman. Beuth invited an expert on environmental Politics and Coastal Protection, Rob Caughlan. Sorum House hosted Professor of Russian History and “Julia Child Cookbook of the Year” award winner Darra Goldstein. Green House invited eco-model Summer Rayne Oakes. Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater, had dinner with a group in Golub, followed by a well attended talk in the Nott Memorial. The program also helped with bringing filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell to campus with a dinner in Sorum House, followed by a talk in Old Chapel.
In '06-'07 guests included author Walter Mosley, jam guitarist Ray Schnier from moe, David Edwards, anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, Calvin Sims, a journalist with the New York Times, Michael Berg, father of Nick Berg, a contractor beheaded on video in Iraq, and Frank Gaffney founder of the Center for Security Policy.