Glover and Ride will be joined by award-winning authors Bruce Feiler and N. Scott Momaday, poverty educator Ruby K. Payne, children's rights advocate Craig Kielburger, school crisis expert Scott Poland, plus many other scholars, innovators and leaders during the weeklong festival Sept. 22-27.

More speakers will be announced in upcoming weeks, according to UniverCity directors Lorraine Sinclair and Beth Turcotte.

UniverCity 2002: Celebrate Community will feature numerous lectures, demonstrations, seminars, performances and exhibits on campus and around Muncie. Diverse speakers from across the country will explore aspects of community, cooperation, collaboration and connection in today's society.

"New to UniverCity will be the hosting of many exciting events off campus," Sinclair said. "This experience will be a living example of the theme 'Celebrate Community.'"

Details on the first group of confirmed speakers:

• Danny Glover is a versatile actor, producer and director and one of Hollywood's most respected leading men, starring in acclaimed films such as "Places in the Heart," "Lethal Weapon," "The Color Purple" and "To Sleep With Anger." He also is an advocate for literacy, the arts and community involvement and an activist on racial equality and social justice.
• Sally Ride is a former NASA astronaut who flew on two space shuttle Challenger missions. She also created NASA's Office of Exploration and has written four books on space, including "To Space and Back" and "The Mystery of Mars." Ride is a physics professor and the co-founder/CEO of Imaginary Lines Inc., which encourages young girls to pursue math and science.
• Bruce Feiler has been hailed as one of the leading writers of his generation with five critically acclaimed books to his credit, including the New York Times best seller "Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses." The award-winning journalist is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."
• N. Scott Momaday, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "House Made of Dawn," is a Native American poet, playwright, painter, storyteller and professor of English and American literature. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and is the voice of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Indian.
• Ruby K. Payne is the author or co-author of several books about working with individuals in poverty, including "Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities" and "A Framework for Understanding Poverty." She is the founder and president of Aha! Process Inc. and has been a teacher, principal, consultant and administrator for 30 years.
• Craig Kielburger is an 18-year-old international spokesman for children's rights and the founder and chair of Kids Can Free the Children, the world's largest children-helping-children network with more than 100,000 youths involved in 35 countries. His book "Free the Children" has been published in six languages, and he received the Roosevelt Freedom Medal.
• Scott Poland is a nationally known school crisis expert who aided intervention efforts in the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine High School shootings and recent school shootings in California. His books and videos include "Coping With Crisis: Lessons Learned" and "Take Back Your School." The Ball State alumnus has been president of the National Association of School Psychologists.

For more on UniverCity 2002, visit www.bsu.edu/univercity, call (765) 285-3546 or e-mail univercity@bsu.edu.