Four-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter India.Arie will address the Texas A&M University-Commerce community as the featured presenter in the next installment of the William L. Mayo Prestigious Speaker Series. The event will be held in Ferguson Auditorium on April 10 at 7 p.m. A private reception will follow.
India.Arie's speaking engagement will include select musical performances and will be open to A&M-Commerce students, faculty, staff and the community.
In 2001, India.Arie released her debut album “Acoustic Soul,” which was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. She has released four additional albums to critical acclaim and Billboard chart success, including the most recent “Songversation,” which she released in 2013 after a four-year hiatus. India.Arie has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, and in addition to Grammy Award wins, she has secured wins or nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards, the NAACP Image Awards and others.
Well-known for singles such as “Video,” “Get It Together” and “I Am Not My Hair,” India.Arie has also branched out from music to expand her label imprint Soulbird into a company that houses her entrepreneurial endeavors in jewelry making, film production, book publishing and other trades. As a philanthropist, India.Arie has served as an ambassador for UNICEF and the Stop Breast Cancer for Life Campaign, while maintaining a public voice on issues in the entertainment industry.
“We are so excited to have India.Arie on our campus. She has an incredible story, and we look forward to her sharing her purpose with our community,” said Assistant Director of Student Activities & Special Events Deepti Vanguri.
Tickets are available in limited quantities in The Club of the Rayburn Student Center and may also be purchased online. Admission for A&M-Commerce students is free. Faculty and staff tickets are $5, and members of the community may purchase tickets for $10.
The eponymous William L. Mayo Prestigious Speaker Series honors the founder of A&M-Commerce and brings notable personalities to the university each year. Previous featured speakers include Ben & Jerry's Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Olympic gold medalists Ryan Lochte and Misty May-Treanor and journalist Dan Rather.
Please address questions to the Student Activities and Leadership desk at 903-886-5811 or email Wendy Morgan, director of the Rayburn Student Center, at [email protected]. For more information about India.Arie, visit her website soulbird.com.
