Emporia State University has announced the featured speaker for its Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series.
Michelle de la Isla, Topeka’s mayor, will speak on campus March 7. Her talk is titled “Lead Where You’re At.”
De la Isla was born in New York, but her mother took her and her brother to Puerto Rico on an emergency basis at an early age. De la Isla moved to Kansas in 2000, later working for groups like Upward Bound and Topeka’s Habitat for Humanity. She was elected to Topeka’s City Council in 2013.
Dr. Thomas and Mary Bonner, Emporia State’s first black faculty members, started the Bonner and Bonner Lecture Series in 1992. Three years ago, the mission of the lecture series expanded to include civic leadership for the common good.
The lecture is at 7 pm March 7 at Albert Taylor Hall. The event is free but tickets are required. Call Union Services at 341-6378 for information and tickets.
