Maya Angelou speaking tonight in Irvine Auditorium

Poet, author, civil rights activist and "Phenomenal Woman" Maya Angelou will speak this evening at 6:30 in Irvine Auditorium.

Angelou will deliver the keynote address for Women's Week, a series of events honoring women organized by the Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women.

Though the content of her talk remains unknown, Penn Women's Center program coordinator Jennifer Jackson said she believes people are interested in hearing Angelou speak about any topic she chooses.

Jackson said the choice to approach Angelou was an attempt to draw large and diverse crowds of attendees and "to make sure people got a sense of what was available to them, in terms of leadership opportunities and creative outlets."

Last year's speaker, activist and professor Angela Davis was able to appeal to many different groups of people, and PCUW hopes Angelou will do the same, she said.

Regardless of intent, the choice of speaker reflects positively on PCUW and PWC's commitment to women of color, said College sophomore Kaneesha Parsard, the political chairwoman of UMOJA, the umbrella coalition for black student organizations. Parsard is also a board member of the Women in Leadership Series, which is organized by PCUW.

"I really do applaud PCUW for tapping such an accomplished black female figure," she said.

The choice was not, however, a specific attempt to target any one community, according to Jackson.

"They picked her because they really wanted Maya Angelou," she said.

She added that there has been no negative feedback regarding PCUW's choice of keynote speaker.

Parsard said Angelou's presence will be a source of pride for both the black community and women, as she has served as a leader to both.

Many groups were involved in working together to bring Angelou to campus, according to Jackson. These organizations range widely from academic to extracurricular programs, though major funding was provided by the Social Planning and Events Committee, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and Annenberg School for Communication.

"There was an outpouring of support on this campus for this," said Jackson. "She's so overwhelmingly loved by so many people."

Tickets for Angelou's speech have already sold out.

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