Convocation

Castleton University presents the 2016 Spring Convocation featuring guest speaker David Mills on Thursday, January 21 at 12:30 p.m. in the Casella Theater.

The 2016 Spring Convocation will mark the official opening of the spring semester, as students, faculty and staff members join President Dave Wolk for one of Castleton’s greatest traditions. Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of heroic service to humanity, the university will be joined by special guest David Mills, a renowned poet and performer, who will present a riveting interpretation of Dr. King’s unforgettable “I Have A Dream” speech.

The event will also feature musical tributes by the Castleton University Chorale under the direction of Dr. Sherrill Blodget, and the Castleton Jazz Ensemble under the leadership of Robert Roth.

For more information, please contact the Fine Arts Center Box Office at (802) 468-1119.

ABOUT DAVID MILLS

Actor and writer David Mills has worked professionally in the dramatic and literary communities for more than a decade. For three years, Mills lived as a writer-in-residence in Langston Hughes’ landmark home. There, he was inspired to put together a one-person show of Hughes’ work, which he performed in colleges such as City University of New York, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, James Madison University and more. Twice he was invited to perform his Hughes show for the mayor of Washington D.C. The American Library Association recently voted Mills’ Hughes piece the #4 young adult show, nationwide. Mills also performs a one-person show of Dr. King, as well.

Mills has had memberships in SAG, AFTRA, and Actors Equity. He has performed in both regional and New York theaters, playing roles such as Othello (Vineyard Playhouse); understudying Othello (Pearl Theater, New York); and Gabriel, the idiot savant in August Wilson’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play “Fences.”

Mills is also an author of the best selling book of poems “The Dream Detective,” and the 2013 book-prize-finalist “The Sudden Country.” In his writer life, Mills graduated from Yale University, cum laude. He recorded his poem “Ghost-town” on RCA jazz recording artist Steve Coleman’s album “Blank Science.”