Centennial Speaker Series

US Students Taking a Selfie with Centennial Speaker

Each year, The Hun School is fortunate to welcome a group of extraordinary authors, artists, and thought leaders as members of the Centennial Speaker Series.

It is designed to expose students to ideas and entertainment that provoke thought and stretch their understanding on a range of real-world topics and issues. Past speakers have included congressmen, entrepreneurs, ocean explorers, authors, YouTube stars, and poets such as Anne Applebaum, Ellen Bennett, Kate Brooks, Jeb Bush, Jason Collins, Black Violin, Dr. David Fajgenbaum, Mandy Harvey, Freestyle Love Supreme, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Dan Harris, Katty Kay, Chuck Klosterman, Congressman John Lewis, Sarah Lewis, the Monks of Drepung Gomang, Casey Neistat, Gabby Rivera, Brad Snyder, Nina Tandon, Sean Wilentz, Erik Wahl, and Eric Whitacre.

Recent & Upcoming Centennial Speakers

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RECENT SPEAKERS

Michelle Khare

Daredevil Michelle Khare has tackled the world’s toughest professions and stunts in her award-winning series Challenge Accepted — from mastering Harry Houdini’s water torture cell escape to running 7 marathons on all 7 continents in 7 days. With over 6 million followers, Challenge Accepted made history as the first independently-produced YouTube series to successfully petition to join the Primetime Emmy ballot in Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series. Michelle spoke to Hun students about the importance of embracing and overcoming fears to unlock capabilities we may not even knew existed. Her message hit hard: you don't have to be fearless, you just have to be wiling to try.

Platon

Platon is a world-renowned British portrait photographer known for his striking black-and-white images of world leaders, celebrities, activists, and cultural icons. His work has appeared in TIME, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair, and includes more than twenty-five TIME covers. Beyond his iconic portraits, Platon is the founder of The People’s Portfolio, a nonprofit dedicated to using photography to elevate underrepresented voices and shine a light on urgent human rights issues. Through his lens, he seeks not just to document power, but to reveal the humanity behind it, creating images that are as emotionally resonant as they are visually compelling.

Mandy Harvey

Mandy Harvey is a singer, songwriter, author, and speaker who happens to be deaf. Ms. Harvey was Simon Cowell‘s “Golden Buzzer” pick on America’s Got Talent. The video has collectively received over 500 million views. Ms. Harvey uses her talents and artistry to encourage others which can be seen by her many acts as part of nonprofit organizations such as No Barriers USA and work for “Music: Not Impossible” with Not Impossible Labs. Her heart is to help others achieve their dreams by encouraging them to “Try” and move forward as a community. Ms. Harvey was featured in NBC Nightly News, Great Big Story, Vacations of the Brave, Music: Not Impossible (Not Impossible Labs), The LA Times, Dr. Oz, Pickler & Ben, America’s Got Talent, TODAY, Access Hollywood, Steve Harvey, and more.

Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Kirkus Prize winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and the recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, multiple Coretta Scott King Award honors and a CILIP Carnegie Medal. Mr. Reynolds’ many books include When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks and Long Way Down. He has also written the Marvel Comics novel Miles Morales: Spider-Man and co-authored All American Boys with Brendan Kiely. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, D.C.

Katty Kay

Confidence! With it, we can take on the world; without it, we don't ask for raises, request that important meeting, begin novels or take risks. In the success equation, research shows that confidence is even more critical than competence. But what is confidence and where does it come from? Are we born with it or do we acquire it? And why do women have less of it than their talents deserve? Co-author of four New York Times bestsellers including, The Confidence Code, Katty Kay answers these questions and inspires – weaving the latest scientific research with anecdotes from her own career and the many women she interviewed for the book. Besides her expertise on self-assurance, Katty Kay is an award-winning journalist and news anchor who brings an instinctively global perspective to her observations on American politics and global affairs.

Freestyle Love Supreme Academy

Before Hamilton, before In the Heights, there was Freestyle Love Supreme. Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, and Anthony Veneziale — and now the subject of a Grammy Award-nominated documentary — Freestyle Love Supreme made its triumphant return to Broadway this fall, with a stop at The Hun School along the way. Freestyle Love Supreme is a group of talented performers spinning cues from the audience into humorous bits, instantaneous songs, and fully realized musical numbers. The vocals of the performers — from singing to rapping to beat-boxing with harmonies and freestyle flow — are backed by keyboards and human percussion.

Sons of Mystro

Born in South Florida to a Jamaican father and Barbadian mother, Malcolm, 23, and his 20-year old brother Umoja learned to play violin through South Florida’s public school system, and attended Dillard High School for the Performing Arts. Together, these brothers are Sons of Mystro. They use their violins to interpret reggae classics, American pop songs and their own creations accompanied by a DJ & a drummer. They are winners of the Emerging Artist under 21yrs Old award at IRAWMA (International Reggae and World Music Awards). Their debut recording, “Reggae Strings” is available now wherever music is streamed or sold. Mentored by Black Violin, these artists’ stars are on the rise.

Recent Highlights

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