Tuskegee University News May 29, 2015 Wes Moore chosen as Tuskegee University Common Reading Experience author The Tuskegee University community will unite for the first time around a work of literature. The first book for the Tuskegee University Common Reading Experience will be "The Other Wes Moore" by Wes Moore. The yearlong program starts this fall and is one of several new student engagement initiatives the university has launched to enhance students' academic achievement, leadership skills and co-curricular engagements. The programs are part of Tuskegee University president, Dr. Brian L. Johnson's vision that he presented to the community upon his arrival. Moore is a decorated United States Army combat veteran, youth advocate and CEO of BridgeEdU, a national initiative focusing on addressing the college completion and career placement crisis by reinventing the freshman year of college. His New York Times bestselling book, "The Other Wes Moore," is a story of the importance of individual decisions as well as community support, and Moore's journey to discover meaning in his work and how he found that meaning in service. In January, Moore will be speaking at Tuskegee as part of the Common Reading Experience and the newly created 2015-2016 Lyceum Speaker Series. The date is Jan. 21 and more details will follow. Themed, " Rise. Experience. Aspire. Dream," the experience will be a collaborative effort designed to provide a collective intellectual experience to stimulate discussion, self-reflection, critical thinking, and inspire a sense of community and diverse perspectives among students, faculty, staff and administrators. There will be several activities and discussions related to the book throughout the academic year. The experience can be followed via social media using #TURead. USA Today, People Magazine, "Meet the Press," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", "The View," MSNBC, and NPR, as well as several others, have featured Moore. He is also the host of "Beyond Belief" on the Oprah Winfrey Network and executive producer and host of "Coming Back with Wes Moore" on PBS. Moore graduated Phi Theta Kappa from Valley Forge Military College in 1998 and Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. He completed an MLitt in International Relations from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2004. Upon graduation, he served as a paratrooper and captain in the U.S. Army, participating in a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.