Elizabethtown College
Lecture Series
Join Us
for 'evenings of enlightenment'
hosted by Elizabethtown College
Leffler Lecture - November 13, 2025
Monique Coleman
Award-Winning Actress, Producer, and Humanitarian
Lefever Lecture - February 12, 2026
Carl Zimmer
New York Times Columnist, Author, and Science Journalist
Ware Lecture - April 16, 2026
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Bestselling Author and Gender Equality Advocate
2025-26 Speakers
Elizabethtown College is proud to present its 2025-26 Lecture Series, one of the region’s most notable programs. Our free Lecture Series continues a rich tradition of hosting speakers who provide audiences the opportunity to be enlightened, engaged, and entertained. We are also pleased to recognize one of the College’s 2025-26 three Educate For Service Awardees at each lecture. All attendees must pre-register for each event.
Join our community as we host Evenings of Enlightenment with three internationally known and remarkable individuals including:
Monique Coleman
Leffler Lecture
November 13, 2025 | 7 p.m.
LEFFLER CHAPEL AND PERFORMANCE CENTER
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
We’re All in This Together
At only 27, Monique Coleman rose to fame as Taylor McKessie in Disney’s High School Musical, but her greatest impact has been off-screen. A passionate advocate for youth and social justice, she became the United Nations’ first-ever Youth Champion for the International Year of Youth, traveling to 24 countries to address education, human rights, and civic leadership. Through her Emmy-nominated docuseries Gimme Mo’ and her global outreach, Monique has created platforms that inspire and empower young voices. In this uplifting and motivational talk, she shares her personal journey from actress to changemaker, offering practical steps to help audiences achieve their dreams while addressing pressing issues facing youth today.
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Carl Zimmer
Lefever Lecture
February 12, 2026 | 7 p.m.
LEFFLER CHAPEL AND PERFORMANCE CENTER
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
The Age of AI: Cracking the Code of Life
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives, from planning vacations to editing photos. But biologists are using the same underlying software to explore some of the deepest mysteries of life. These foundation models, as they're called, can learn by themselves how proteins fold into their intricately complex structures. They can make up new proteins from scratch. Even more ambitiously, foundation models are making sense of how thousands of genes work together inside our cells to keep us alive. In a few weeks, computers can analyze data from millions of cells and teach themselves some of the most fundamental principles of biology. What will they discover next? Zimmer takes us on a mind-bending trip into the not-so-distant future, when computers can discover how to make new kinds of cells, and maybe new kinds of life.
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ware Lecture
April 16, 2026 | 7 p.m.
LEFFLER CHAPEL AND PERFORMANCE CENTER
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
Creating the World You Want
New York Times bestselling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reflects on her journey from childhood to adulthood, including the first time she was called a “feminist”—intended as an insult. Through personal stories, she shares lessons on resilience, individuality, and the courage to challenge limiting norms. Ms. Adichie rejects victimhood as a virtue and cautions against rigid ideologies, emphasizing that while we can’t always shape the world to our will, we must still try. Education, she says, equips us with the tools to create change. She urges us to be ourselves, never accept “because you are a woman” as a justification for anything, and to give and receive love freely. Above all, she calls on us to unlearn the gender roles we inherit, recognizing them as cultural constructs rather than reflections of who we truly are.
Register NowBag Policy:
All lectures held on the Elizabethtown College campus spaces operate under a Clear Bag Policy which prohibits guests (including Etown students, employees, and campus visitors) from bringing large bags inside venues for events in accordance with event guidelines and security best practices.
Guests should be prepared to have all hand-carried items open and ready for inspection. Hand-carried items include, but are not limited to, bags and purses that meet the following criteria:
- Each person may have one clear bag no larger than 12”x6”x12” that is constructed of plastic, vinyl, or PVC.
- In addition to or in place of the clear bag, one hand clutch/wristlet/small purse, with or without a handle or strap, and not exceeding 6.5"x4.5" is permitted.
- Elizabethtown College is inclusive and family-friendly, so exceptions for bag sizes are as follows: A medical needs bag and/or a parenting needs bag. These bags are subject to a physical search.
- Visitors will be asked to return non-approved bags or other prohibited items to their vehicle prior to entry. There is no check-in location for prohibited bags.
Approved Bags
Prohibited Bags
