Dyslexic Author Jonathan Mooney to Speak at Eastern
The event's academic department organizer is the Department of Sociology, ANTHROPOLOGY, Criminology and Social Work (not Geography). Apologies for the inconvenience.
Willimantic, CT (09/04/2019) — Jonathan Mooney, a dyslexic writer and speaker who did not learn to read until he was 12 years old, will speak at Eastern Connecticut State University on Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. in the Student Center at Eastern.
"Instead of flipping burgers, I ended up writing books, the first of which I wrote in undergraduate school at 23 years of age," said Mooney, who graduated with honors in English Literature from Brown University. "Growing up, I faced a number of low expectations. I was told that I would be a high school dropout and end up in jail. Instead of becoming an inmate, I became an advocate, creating organizations and initiatives that help people who get the short end of the stick."
For his work, Mooney has been named the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Fellowship for Public Services and named a finalist for a Rhoades Scholarship. Mooney has been featured on ABC News, HBO, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and USA Today, to name a few media outlets.
"What I'm most proud of," said Mooney, "is not that I proved wrong people who doubted me, but that I proved the many people - my mom, a teacher named Mr. R. my wife Rebecca - to be right, not just about my potential, but about the potential for all of us who live and learn differently."
Mooney's presentation is sponsored by the President's Office, the Office of Equity and Diversity, Accessibility Services, the Division Student Affairs, and the Department of Sociology, Criminology, Anthropology and Social Work.
Written by Ed Osborn
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving 5,200 students annually at its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 33 other states and 80 other countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 65 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in an array of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 30 public universities in the North Region by U.S. News and World Report in its 2019 Best College ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review nine years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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