For its first-ever remote program, The Tavis Smiley Show broadcasts today from the campus of Clark Atlanta University, before a live audience in the university's student center.
The program, hosted by Atlanta public radio station WCLK (91.9 FM), features Atlanta-area guests and focuses on three topics: Historically black colleges and universities, the Atlanta music scene, and baseball great Henry Aaron.
A discussion of historically black colleges and universities addresses the institutions' purpose and relevance in an increasingly diverse America. Tavis Smiley leads the discussion with officials of three historically black education institutions: Dr. Walter D. Broadnax, president of Clark Atlanta University; Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College; and Dr. James Gavin, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Broadnax, who became Clark's second president in August 2002, previously was dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. He also has served as director of the University of Maryland's Bureau of Governmental Research; as deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; as a lecturer in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; and as a senior staff member at The Brookings Institution. He is one of America's leading scholar-practitioners in the field of public policy and management.
Tatum, a fourth-generation college professor and the granddaughter of a Spelman alum, was dean and acting president of Mount Holyoke College before assuming the Spelman presidency. A clinical psychologist with particular expertise in such matters as racial identity in teens and race in the classroom, she has lectured extensively and published numerous works on race and educational issues. Her books include Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race, (1997), and Assimilation Blues: Black Families in a White Community (1987).
Gavin, a PhD as well as an MD, came to Morehouse School of Medicine in July 2002 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Washington, D.C., where he was senior medical officer. In the past he also worked at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center as a professor and as a specialist in diabetes section, endocrinology, metabolism and hypertension. In the early 1970s he was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, and continues as a reserve officer in the Public Health Service. He is on the board of trustees for organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Duke University. And he has published more than 170 articles and abstracts in such publications as Science, Journal of Applied Physiology and the American Journal of Physiology.
A survey of the "Hotlanta" music scene features Atlanta-based artist and producer Jermaine Dupri of So So Def Recordings. Dupri presides over a So So Def stable of artists that includes Bow Wow, Da Brat and Jagged. His collaborations included the hit 8701 with Usher. In 2001, Dupri produced what he calls "the first theme song Atlanta ever had" -- the single "Welcome to Atlanta."
Henry Aaron, the baseball Hall of Famer who is now an executive with the Atlanta Braves, joins Smiley to discuss the sport and his career. Born Feb. 5, 1934, in Mobile, Ala., Aaron played on the Indianapolis team of the Negro American League -- and in fact was the last Negro League player also to play in the major leagues. In a 23-year major league career, he earned the nickname "Hammerin' Hank" by hitting a record 755 home runs. He also set a dozen more major league career records, including most total bases, most games and most at-bats. Aaron was awarded three Gold Glove awards, and appeared in a record 24 All-Star Games.
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