News Release

Summer reading program features ‘Warriors Don't Cry’

June 5, 2008

First-year students at Penn State Harrisburg are again beginning their collegiate academic experience early this year.

For the eighth consecutive year, all incoming first-year students are participating in a summer reading program which focuses on encouraging intellectual interaction among students even before their first semester of college begins in late August. This interaction will continue as the book is included in their fall semester work in English composition and other courses.

This year, a college-wide working group has selected Warriors Don’t Cry, a memoir by Melba Pattillo Beals. In 1957, Beals and eight others faced the wrath of segregationists and the governor of Arkansas to become the first African American students to enter Central High School in Little Rock.

Each student attending a summer session of the University’s First-Year Testing, Counseling and Advising Program (FTCAP) is receiving a complimentary copy of the book. A Web site has been established for student use which includes questions to consider in each chapter, the Civil Rights Movement, other valuable resources, and information on the author.

In addition, there will be a number of events throughout the fall semester focusing on the book, including panel discussions and a film series.

In past years, the summer reading program has featured The Color of Water by James McBride, The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, A Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father’s War by Louise Steinman, and Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario.