Author visits for university series
Author Bertice Berry spoke at the University of Indianapolis on September 18th to discuss her book The Ties That Bind as part of the Common Reading Experience, a new program designed to give incoming freshmen a common point of discussion on a centralized topic.
The Common Reading Experience also is designed to work with the University Series theme. This year’s theme is “who do you think you are?” Berry’s book The Ties That Bind was chosen because it discusses ideas and themes similar to this year’s University Series.
Executive Director of Student Services Dan Stoker is involved with coordinating the University Series and the Common Reading Experience.
“We have talked for a long time of doing a common reader as a campus,” Stoker said. “We’ve looked at different books, but we have never been able to commit until this year.”
Stoker said that Associate Director of Career Services Lela Mixon gave Berry’s book to him and Dean of Ecumenical and Interfaith Programs and Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion Michael Cartwright. Cartwright also helped start the Common Reading Experience.
“We both read the book and said, ‘This has some real possibilities and it connects well with our theme,’” Stoker said.
After Stoker and Cartwright had some conversations with other staff and faculty members, they decided on Berry’s book.
The Ties That Bind is a reflective memoir that discusses the history of Berry’s African-American family members, from the days of slavery all the way to the present day. The book shows readers that they can always learn something new about their roots.
Berry said that The Ties That Binds was in part about “getting the story right.” Barry said that in her first novel, Redemption Song, she misrepresented a man named John Hunn as a cruel plantation and slave owner. Berry based the character on a real man by the same name who she thought owned the plantation her family came from. She later found out that he was an abolitionist, and the southernmost conductor of the Underground Railroad, a mistake she wanted to correct.
During her performance in Ransburg Auditorium, Berry told jokes, sang and recited poetry to get her point across. She urged people to interact with each other, to read and to forgive and forget.
“You cannot evolve to the person you are meant to be if you don’t let some things go,” Berry said.
Berry said that she was happy to be a part of the Common Reading Experience.
“The program is doing almost exactly what I wanted people to get from the book,” Berry said.
The Common Reading Experience was first brought up to incoming students at orientation and summer registration. After that, there were events and facilitated discussions during Welcome Week that tied into the book. Stoker said that the response from students has been mixed.
“We have some students who seem to really be engaged in it and who seem to really like it and others who are not as excited or enthralled,” Stoker said.
The university attempted to make the book affordable for students by subsidizing the cost and cutting the price to $10, Stoker said. This helped to keep the cost down for the university, because it did not buy every book, and for students, because they did not have to pay full price. The university’s bookstore sold out of all 734 copies of Berry’s book.
“We had 75 percent of the freshmen coming through summer registration purchase the book,” Stoker said. “Yes, it would have been great to have 100 percent, but the only way we could probably do that is if we paid for it and gave a copy to every person.”
The search for next year’s Common Reading Experience book is already underway. Stoker said it is very likely that the cost of year’s Common Reading Experience book will be subsidized.
