Committee selects summer reading
Published April 20, 2007
A year after incoming freshmen read a book dealing with illegal immigration, this year's summer-reading program will deal with another social issue: Rwandan genocide.
The selection for the Freshman Summer Reading Program this year is Paul Rusesabagina's "An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography."
The Barnes & Noble Web site stated that the book is "a powerful story of bravery in the midst of madness."
The book is based on Rusesabagina's life. His bravery inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda," a movie about the 1994 Rwandan genocides.
Associate Dean of Academic Programs Lex Akers, the chairman of the committee that chooses the summer-reading book, said he thinks this selection will get students involved.
"Having a movie about the book will also help students want to get engaged," Akers said.
Akers said schools including Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have summer reading programs similar to MU's. MU began its summer-reading program four years ago.
New Student Programs Senior Coordinator David Rielley said the program was created when the university was looking for a way to incorporate an academic experience for incoming freshmen.
"When students come to the university, there are two transitions: social transition and academic transition," Rielley said. "We decided four years ago we needed to do a little bit more on the academic side."
Rielley said he wants the books to be accessible, relatively short and to address some sort of contemporary social issue.
The summer-reading program committee begins the process to select a book in the fall semester.
Akers said the criteria for the books chosen for the summer-reading program are the book's timeliness, whether it's a good read, the ability to make an important statement, whether it can provide a good discussion and the possibility of getting the author to visit campus.
Last semester, author T.C. Boyle came to the university after his book, "The Tortilla Curtain," was selected as the summer-reading book.
The committee starts with 20-30 books to review. The pool is narrowed to 15 books, which are read during the winter break. After the break, the committee talks about those books and narrows their selection to five books, which everyone reads before making a decision.
Akers said he is happy with the choice of "An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography."
"It is an exceptional book," Akers said. "It is a demonstration of how one person can make a difference."
Rielley said he has been pleased with the progress that has been made with the program.
"When we first started, we set a goal for 50 percent of the incoming students to actively participate," Rielley said. "We have taken a look at the numbers, and it has been around that. We have been very happy with it."