Eckerd College is pleased to present lectures and presentations, as well as art exhibitions and athletic events, for the enjoyment and enlightenment of our community.
Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise specified.
If you require disability-related accommodations, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at news@eckerd.edu preferably two weeks in advance of the event. A good faith effort will be made to accommodate all requests, including late requests.
Presidential Events Series, Fall 2026
All events are free events for the public unless otherwise noted.
Whiskey Tender: An evening with Deborah Jackson Taffa
7 p.m., Wednesday, September 16, 2026, Fox Hall
Join us for the kickoff event in our 2026 Presidential Events Series with award-winning author Deborah Jackson Taffa. The presentation will reflect on the author’s survival, coming-of-age on and off the reservation, and the frictions between mainstream American culture and Native inheritance, assimilation and reverence for tradition. Taffa’s memoir was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award and won the Southwest Book Award.
Sponsored by The Eckerd College Class of 1968 Distinguished Visiting Scholar Endowment, the Office of the President, the Dean of Faculty, and The Foundations Collegium.
The Story of Plastic Screening and Panel Discussion
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 6 p.m., Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium
The Story of Plastic is an engaging introduction to the lifecycle of plastics that will spark meaningful discussion of the connection between our reliance on plastic, the health of Tampa Bay, and the broader climate crisis. Following the screening, panelists Florida House Rep. Lindsay Cross, Dr. Mauricio Arias (USF, Civil & Environmental Engineering), Chloe McKenna (ReThink Energy Florida and Plastic-Free Pinellas Coalition) and Dr. Maria Sgambati (Florida Clinicians for Climate Action) will discuss the film’s major themes and proposed solutions.
Sponsored by Reduce Single-Use at Eckerd College, ReThink Energy Florida, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, and members of Plastic-Free Pinellas Coalition and is sponsored by the VoLo Foundation as part of Florida Climate Week.
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 6 p.m., Fox Hall
In this public lecture, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, one of our nation’s courageous civil rights icons, takes us on a powerful journey of peril, resilience, courage and determination. Mulholland Trumpauer will share her firsthand experiences from a time when the pursuit of justice meant putting one’s life on the line while risking livelihood, freedom and personal safety. She will be joined by her son, Loki Mulholland, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker.
Sponsored by the Unity Center and the Eckerd College Afro American Society.
Donika Kelly: An Evening of Poetry and Conversation About Animals, Love, and Friendship.
Thursday, November 12, 2026, 7 p.m., Triton Room
Award-winning poet Donika Kelly is author of “The Natural Order of Things,” “The Renunciations” and “Bestiary,” with work in The New Yorker and The Paris Review, among others. She teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa. A regular visitor to Eckerd via Zoom, she joins us this year for the first time in person.
Sponsored by the Bill and Vivian Parsons Endowment Fund for Literature and History, with additional support from the Animal Studies Discipline and the Office of the President. Part of the Fall 2026 Presidential Event Series and College Program Series.
