AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU TO SPEAK AT SEMO

Internationally acclaimed author Maya Angelou will be the keynote speaker at this spring's inauguration ceremony for the new president of Southeast Missouri State University.

Angelou, who has received numerous awards and honors during a long and eclectic career, delivered her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Clinton's first inauguration in 1993.

Dr. Dale F. Nitzschke became Southeast's 16th president last summer. Activities surrounding the inauguration will be held April 6-10.

Southeast's Board of Regents will present Nitzschke with the university's official presidential medallion during the April 10 inauguration ceremony at the Show Me Center. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m.

Nitzschke said he was excited that such a renown figure as Angelou will be featured at a ceremony in his honor.

Dr. Bernice Coar-Cobb, a faculty member in the College of Education at Southeast, praised Angelou's selection.

"I think it's just wonderful," Coar-Cobb said. "She speaks to so many people. She knows about the hard times of blacks and things that have happened."

Coar-Cobb said the area's African-American community has been abuzz with the news.

"She is a lady many of us really and truly can identify with," Coar-Cobb said. "She is one of the greats."

The Rev. David Allen, pastor of St. James AME Church in Cape Girardeau and the president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, expressed excitement concerning Angelou's visit.

"Around here we are always happy to see anyone with a national and international reputation come, particularly an African-American," Allen said.

"She is an intelligent, outstanding individual. We are very glad the university opted to contact her."

Allen met Angelou in 1983 when she spoke at the University of Utah.

"She made a lasting impression that will probably stay with me for the rest of my life," Allen said.

He said that with Angelou's visit "once again Cape Girardeau will be on the national and international map."

Angelou will be the latest luminary to visit the city in the last year. Other notable visitors during that time included Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, former Vice President Dan Quayle and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Allen added that Angelou's visit will be a positive experience for area residents.

"She will bring to the community such a rich heritage and rich background," Allen said. "Even if she will be here for just a few hours, the Cape Girardeau community will be richer for the experience."

It is not certain if Angelou will speak to a university class while at Southeast, but Coar-Cobb expects she will.

"Generally when we have someone on campus like her, they do speak to students," Coar-Cobb said. "I think (President Nitzschke) would want that."

Jim Biundo, the assistant to the president for university relations, said the university wanted a respected figure as the inauguration's keynote speaker.

"She is one of the foremost figures in contemporary literature, and her name just surfaced as a possibility and we pursued it," Biundo said. "We are really excited that it will work out.

"She truly is a renaissance woman in many respects."

Angelou was born in St. Louis in 1928, and currently resides in North Carolina. She is the author of several dozen novels, children's books, poems, plays and screenplays.

She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for her poem "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie."

But Angelou's career goes far beyond the written word.

Her long and impressive resume includes stints as a teacher of modern dance at The Rome Opera House and The Hambina Theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel, and appointments to national commissions by U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

She is also an accomplished actress. She received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1977 for her role as an African grandmother in the television miniseries based on Alex Haley's novel "Roots," and was nominated for a Tony award in 1973 for her work in the Broadway play "Look Away."

She won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 1994.

The overall theme for inauguration week will be "Creating Tomorrow."

Former Southeast presidents, along with various dignitaries and presidents of other universities across the nation, are expected to be among the 5,000 to 7,000 to attend Nitzschke's inauguration.

Biundo said the inauguration was put on hold so Nitzschke could focus on his transition to the university.

Among the special events planned for inauguration week are tours of the university's William Faulkner Center and an exhibit of Faulkner items in the Rare Books Room of Kent Library.

A festival coordinated by international students is also slated. Other events for the week are being planned.