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Leaders need to adapt to changing conditions. They need to communicate their ideas. And if you ask Dee Dee Myers, the first woman to serve as a White House press secretary who spoke Thursday night as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's sixth Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership, she’ll tell you that leaders can’t be afraid to fail.

A series of events to commemorate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place next week at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, from a special College Coffee to a candlelight ceremony and a “Day of Service” in conjunction with ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ First Baptist Church. The theme of this year's events is “His Past. Your Future. One Dream.”

More than 600 students are studying abroad over Winter Term, and the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies is hosting a blog for parents and friends to stay up-to-date on experiences taking place in nations such as China, South Africa and Greece.

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will headline a daylong celebration of the liberal arts and sciences on April 13, as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ installs its new chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Calling it a “symbol of an athletics program aspiring to do great things,” ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ leaders broke ground Saturday morning on Alumni Field House, a state-of-the-art 30,000-square-foot facility to be built adjoining the north end zone of Rhodes Stadium and named by the board of trustees to honor all ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ alumni.

The ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Board of Trustees voted unanimously Dec. 14 to approve a $586 million strategic plan that will guide the university's development during the next decade. "The ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Commitment: Engaged minds. Inspired leaders. Global citizens.," was created over the past 15 months, involving the entire community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends in a discussion about ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's future.

The Daily Beast, one of the leading new Web-based media outlets, has named ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ one of the decade's hottest colleges. The list of 15 colleges and universities ranks schools that make up a "whole new class of first-choice schools" that have "transformed the collegiate landscape" during the past 10 years.

A holiday program filled with seasonal favorites performed by the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra takes place Sunday afternoon in Alumni Gym with a special guest conducting appearance by WMAG 99.5's Bill Flynn, a holiday sing-along and a visit from Santa Claus. Admission is free to the 3 p.m. show with the donation of a non-perishable food item.

Thirty-seven candidates in ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s doctor of physical therapy program received their degrees on Dec. 6, 2009, in a ceremony featuring an address from John D. Childs, associate professor and director of research for the U.S. Army in the Baylor University doctoral program in physical therapy.

With their ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ tutors in tow, 22 children made beelines Wednesday evening for such titles as “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Just Grace and the Snack Attack,” books at a local retailer that would, hopefully, foster a deeper love of the written word while rewarding their progress in a reading program organized by an upper level education course.