Emory’s Founders Week boasts a lot of talks and events featuring big wigs from Emory, or those big wigs who lent their expertise on Emory, or those big wigs who know about the big wigs who founded this fine institution.

But the real essence of the week grew out of a sort of spin-off from Emory’s Charter Day, the University celebration in honor of its chartering on January 25, 1915. In today's day and age, the week's events serve to promote Emory’s intellectual life and celebrate the arts and sciences.

Founders Week kicked off yesterday with a poetry reading by Robert Pinsky as part of the Robert Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series. He’s an American poet who served as Poet Laureate from 1997-2000.

Tomorrow’s events will continue the week’s festivities with Andrew Urban, a community research postdoctoral fellow with the Transforming Community Project, who will present his research on Yun Ch'i-Ho 1893Ox, a Korean immigrant who who lived in the South in the 1890s and was Emory's first international alumnus. Yun was not quite a founder, but he did provide a founding perspective about Emory’s cultural and social life more than 100 years ago.

Later in the evening, the University will celebrate its participation in the Transforming Community Project since fall 2005. This is more of a focus on our community and less on the founders—but they did lead us here.

Wednesday, February 3, will bring two lectures: one from a faculty member, Phillis Whatley Distinguished Chair in Poetry and Professor of English Natasha Trethewey, and one from one of those experts I mentioned up there, Richard Brookhiser, the host of quite a few PBS specials on founders, though not necessarily Emory's.

Founders Week will close with the 30th anniversary celebration of the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services. A panel of students, staff, faculty and administrators will give a background of their time at Emory and engage in a bit of Q&A.

--Lindsey Bomnin 12C, EAA communications assistant