Actor and comedian Steve Martin spoke -- and played banjo -- during the 2022 Bryan Series.
The long running speaker series will end following the April 8 conversation with actress and global activist Ashley Judd.
“The dedication of our subscribers, Legacy Society members and sponsors allowed Guilford to extend series programming over a long period of time. As a College, we are very grateful for this support, especially from those who have been involved for many years.”
The Guilford College Bryan Series, the region’s longest-running subscription lecture series, which brought luminaries like Toni Morrison, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ron Howard and Judy Woodruff to Greensboro, will conclude in April after 20 subscription seasons.
The final Bryan Series program, featuring actress and global activist Ashley Judd, will be Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 pm at the Tanger Center, where the series has been presented since 2022. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and the Tanger Center Box Office.
“The dedication of our subscribers, Legacy Society members and sponsors allowed Guilford to extend series programming over a long period of time,” says Acting College President Jean Parvin Bordewich. “As a College, we are very grateful for this support, especially from those who have been involved for many years.”
The programming originated and was sustained by generous gifts to Guilford from trustee chair emeritus Joseph M. Bryan Jr. ’60 in 1994 and 2011, establishing and strengthening an endowed fund. Free programs underwritten by the fund were held at Dana Auditorium on campus until 2005.
At its peak, the subscription series had 2,800 subscribers. However, participation declined after COVID, as activity patterns changed and the series competed with a wide variety of cultural and entertainment events at Tanger Center, which opened in 2021, and other venues.
“Our top priority as an institution at this time is to be the best possible steward of our finances,” said Bordewich. “Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to operate the series in the black.”
Over nearly 30 years, Guilford has presented more than 100 renowned speakers. The impressive list of past speakers includes heads-of-state, Nobel laureates, MacArthur Fellowship and Pulitzer Prize recipients and winners of Academy, Tony and Grammy awards.
The subscription series has been presented at War Memorial Auditorium, the Greensboro Coliseum and Tanger Center.
More information is available at guilford.edu/bryanseries.