Dillard University News October 2015 DILLARD ALUMNUS GARRETT MORRIS, ‘58 TO DELIVER FOUNDERS’ DAY ADDRESS OCTOBER 18 AS THE UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES 146 YEARS New Orleans, LA – Actor, comedian Garrett Morris will deliver the Founders’ Day Address at Dillard University on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 3 p.m. in Lawless Memorial Chapel. Tracing its history back to its predecessors Straight College and New Orleans University, Dillard is commemorating 146 years as an institution of higher education. “This Founders’ Day Convocation has added significance because we are celebrating two other milestones at the university,” said Yolanda W. Page, vice president for Academic Affairs. “Along with the storied history of the institution and its founders, we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Theatre Program and the 60th anniversary of Lawless Memorial Chapel,” she added. As a native of New Orleans and 1958 graduate of Dillard, Page says Morris was an obvious choice for the 2015 convocation speaker and provides the opportunity to give special recognition for the oldest historically black university theatre program in the country. Morris, who was raised by his grandfather, a strict Baptist minister, began singing in the church choir at age 5. After graduating from Dillard, he travelled to New York to begin a career on stage while also studying at the Julliard School of Music. Few in the industry have matched Morris’ versatility. From his pioneering role as an original cast member of Saturday Night Live to his more than decade-long stint as a soloist and arranger with the Harry Belafonte Singers, Morris has done it all. A true comedy legend, Morris also spent ten years as a stage performer and playwright, with numerous Broadway credits under his belt, and has co-starred on television and in film alongside some of America’s most recognizable talents. With a career spanning nearly six decades, Morris can now be seen every Monday night on the CBS hit 2 Broke Girls playing the role of Earl, a 75-year-old former jazz musician and current ladies’ man who is the cashier at the Williamsburg Diner. The Founders’ Day Program will also give special recognition to the 80th anniversary of Dillard’s theatre program. In 1935, Randolph Edmonds moved from Morgan College to Dillard University, where he organized the first theatre department at a historically black college and founded the Southern Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts (SADSA). Edmonds' career as a playwright began in 1922, with the one-act folk play Job Hunting, for which he won honorable mention in Opportunity magazine's drama competition. Edmonds accepted the chair of the drama department at Florida A & M in 1948, in which his continuing writing career earned him the title, "Dean of Black Academic Theater." In conjunction with the theatre program, Lawless Memorial Chapel will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Lawless was erected in 1955 in the southwest corner of the campus as part of former president of Dillard University, Dr. Albert W. Dent’s renovation priorities. In fall of 2009, Lawless Chapel was rededicated during Founder’s Day festivities marking Dillard University’s 140th anniversary and its post-Katrina restoration. In a brief ceremony prior to the program, Dillard’s Chaplain, Rev. Earnest Salsberry, will lead a litany of dedication taken from the 1955 occasion. For more information on the annual Founders’ Day Convocation call 504-816-4800 or visit www.dillard.edu. 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.