We are pleased to announce that Bob Kendrick will be our speaker for the 2023 K. Raymond Clark Contemporary Issues Forum held in Sinclair Auditorium on Tuesday, February 28 at 7:30 PM.
Ticket Information:
Tickets are now available to the Coe community (employees and students) at Coe's online box office. All members of the Coe community may receive one extra complimentary ticket for a guest. Tickets for the general public will again be $10 per ticket, with discounted tickets for non-Coe students and seniors for $5. This year again, we will be offering the option to view this event virtually. Virtual event tickets are $10 and the purchase of this ticket will be valid for one link to watch the Contemporary Issues Forum from your computer or mobile device, but may not be used to attend in person.
Biography:
Bob Kendrick has served as President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) since 2011. He handles the museum’s operations and the development and implementation of strategies to advance the organization’s mission, as the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America. Kendrick has helped orchestrate a nearly $20 million turnaround that has helped the NLBM regain its vitality and financial stability, as well as created several signature museum educational programs and events.
Kendrick has become one of the leading authorities on the topic of Negro Leagues Baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race, and diversity. He has been a contributing writer for Ebony Magazine and the National Urban League’s Opportunity Magazine. In 2021, he created and hosted the acclaimed national podcast, Black Diamonds, which was named the 2021 Sports Podcast of the Year by Adweek.
Kendrick was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and received honorary doctorate degrees from Judson University and William Jewell College. He has earned several awards and recognitions including the Mary Lona Diversity Award from the Greater Kansas City Black Chamber of Commerce; Citizen of the Year from the Omega Psi Phi fraternity; one of the 100 Most Influential African-Americans in Greater Kansas City from the Kansas City Globe; Person of the Year 2020 from the Kansas City Call newspaper; and Businessperson of the Year 2021 from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
About the Event:
Established by the late K. Raymond Clark ’30, the Contemporary Issues Forum presents the views of distinguished leaders whose work has shaped and altered the course of world events. The forum has featured former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, former Poland President Lech Walesa, deep-sea oceanographer Robert Ballard, civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau, ecology expert Jared Diamond, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts, celebrated author Sir Salman Rushdie, former Senate Majority Leader and Special Envoy George Mitchell, Pulitzer Prize-winning global health expert Laurie Garrett, legendary soccer player Abby Wambach, leading commentator on race Jelani Cobb, environmentalists and social entrepreneurs Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews, pioneering astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, MIT AgeLab Director Dr. Joseph F. Coughlin and Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
