Political Analyst And BET Tonight Host Tavis Smiley Speaks At Winthrop Feb. 4                   

Dec. 16, 2000  

ROCK HILL – He’s had interviews with President Clinton, Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II.

Newspapers and magazines proclaim him as a voice to pay attention to. The Los Angeles Times says political analyst Tavis Smiley is on “fast track, left lane.” The Philadelphia Inquirer says Smiley’s one of the most important political voices of his generation. Essence raves that his political writings “show us how to correct America’s swerve to the right.”

Smiley will help Winthrop University start off its More Than A Month: Our History Series celebration with an appearance Feb. 4. His 7 p.m. lecture at Byrnes Auditorium will focus on diversity.

A weekly radio commentator for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Smiley is host of BET Tonight and is a regular guest host on CNN's "Both Sides." Educated at Indiana University, he is author of “Hard Left: Straight Talk About the Wrongs of the Right” and “Doing What’s Right: How To Fight For What You Believe and Make A Difference.” He also worked as a top aide to former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley.

Smiley is the recipient of the 1999 NAACP Image Award for Best “News, Talk or Information Series” and the 1998 Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Communications.

One of 10 children, Smiley is single and lives in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Admission to Smiley’s lecture is free for Winthrop students, faculty and staff with ID. General admission tickets are $10.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door. All tickets will be available, beginning Jan. 4, at the Dinkins Student Center information desk.

For more information, contact Tracey Pickard, student development coordinator, at 323-4503.