On Tuesday, October 12, Peabody and Owen Graduate School of Management joined with Tennessee’s First Lady, Andrea Conte, to welcome actor and education activist Richard Dreyfuss for a conversation with esteemed journalist John Seigenthaler on the importance of civics education. The First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt also was a sponsor.
The event took place in Conservation Hall at the governor’s residence. Approximately 20 Peabody guests attended.
Dreyfuss has spent much of the past two years promoting his Dreyfuss Initiative, a nonprofit corporation formed to revive, elevate and enhance the teaching of civics in public schools grades K-12 in the United States.
He is known primarily for starring roles in numerous films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, American Graffiti and Mr. Holland’s Opus.
In addition to the discussion at the governor’s residence, on October 13, Dreyfuss planned to continue the conversation at a luncheon with Seigenthaler; Martha Ingram, chairman of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust; Rene Copeland, artistic director of the Tennessee Repertory Theater; and Dean Benbow.