FOR IMMEDIA TE RELEASE
Nov. 3, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE UNIVERSITY TO HOST DIVERSITY LECTURE NOV. 10

The Community in Diversity Lecture Series at Drake University will host its second speaker, Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, APR, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street and University Avenue. In an illustrated lecture she will talk about "Myths, Lies and Stereotypes: Media and the Visual Enslavement of Black People." The event is free and open to the public.

Kern-Foxworth is a nationally acclaimed advertising and public relations professional, multicultural marketer, best-selling author, distinguished professor and award-winning researcher. She is president and CEO of Kern-Foxworth International, a communications agency in Silver Spring, Md. She holds a Ph.D. with a concentration in advertising and public relations from the University of Wisconsin as well as a master's degree from Florida State University and a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University.

The focus of her research, teaching and consulting is the representation of blacks in the mass media. She is author of the best-seller "Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" and co-editor of "Facing Difference: Race, Gender and Mass Media." She also has been a commentator for many media outlets including CNN, CNBC, BET, PBS, Black Enterprise, Emerge, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age and Public Relations Journal.

Kern-Foxworth is the first woman and first person of color to receive the coveted Pathfinder Award for original research from the Public Relations Institute. In 1999-2000 she served as president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication as the first African American woman to lead that organization in its 88-year history. As president, she founded the Journalism Leadership Institute in Diversity that prepares senior faculty for leadership in higher education.
The Community in Diversity Lecture Series was created in 2003 to provide Drake University and the surrounding communities an opportunity to hear diverse viewpoints from today's media professionals. Speakers are invited to give a public lecture and teach in several journalism classes as part of their three-day visit to the campus. The series is co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the College of Business and Public Administration at Drake University.

For more information, call (515) 271-4594.