UT Speech Program Speaker Series Continues March 30 with Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith

The University of Tampa Speech Program Speaker Series continues on Thursday, March 30, with Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida. The event begins at 2 p.m. in the Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values and is free and open to the public.

Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Equality Florida, the state’s largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A former award-winning journalist turned organizer, Smith was a national co-chair of the 1993 March on Washington and part of the historic Oval Office meeting with President Bill Clinton, the first such meeting between a sitting president and gay community leaders.

This year’s series will conclude on Thursday, April 20, with Michael Farmer, statewide deputy director of development for Equality Florida. Since 2012, Farmer and his teams across the state have raised more than $2 million for LGBT equality in Florida. In 2012, he was nominated as one of The Advocate’s “40 under 40” activists in the nation, and he was recently recognized by Congressman Alan Grayson as one of the top 50 LGBT leaders in Florida.

The series is sponsored by UT’s Center for Public Speaking and the speech program, who have partnered this year with Equality Florida to bring talented speakers from throughout the state to the University.

For more information, contact Chris Gurrie, speech program coordinator and assistant professor of speech, at (813) 257-1711 or cgurrie@ut.edu.

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