Guilford College - Campus Events

Campus Events

Bryan Series. In the past decade, Guilford's Bryan Series has brought many notable speakers to the campus and city for an annual public lecture series. Past speakers have included Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Ken Burns, Mary Robinson, David McCullough, and Toni Morrison. The 2008–09 Bryan Series lecturers were Khaled Hosseini, Christiane Amanpour and James Rubin, Salman Rushdie, and Anna Quindlen. The 2009–10 lecturers were Garry Trudeau, Paul Krugman, Anna Deavere Smith, David Gregory, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Former President Bill Clinton headlined the Bryan Series in 2010–11.

Eastern Music Festival (EMF). Every summer, the college hosts the five-week-long Eastern Music Festival (EMF), where both professional and student musicians come together for seminars and public performances. Each year, EMF features more than 70 concerts and music-related events on- and off-campus.

Serendipity. Probably the largest campus-wide event of the year, besides Homecoming, is "Serendipity", held annually in the spring. In its heyday during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the festival was attended by Guilford students and alumni as well as thousands of students from other local institutions in the Triad area. Musical acts who have played this event include: Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Hootie and the Blowfish, Common, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, Luscious Jackson, The Violent Femmes, Man Man, The Village People and The Squirrel Nut Zippers.

WTH?! Con This event has been occurring annually since 2001. Major guests include a host of webcomic creators and wrock bands. The most recent Con, held February 10–12, 2012, attracted around 300 attendees. Peak attendance has been around 500 people.