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AUSTIN, Texas -- This year, the 79th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, hosted by University of Texas Athletics (Wednesday-Saturday, April 5-8) will become so much more than a nationally-recognized four-day track and field event attracting 3,800 college, open division and high school competitors from across the USA.

The weekend also will feature "Conversations with Greatness," a first-time Minority Mentorship Symposium which is the brainchild of UT women's track and field/cross country head coach Beverly Kearney. The symposium takes place on Sunday, April 9, and will feature high-profile minority executives and stars from the entertainment and music worlds as well as from the business, college administration and law professions.

This unique event is for all Longhorns student-athletes and will be held at the Hilton Austin Hotel (located at 500 E. 4th St. in downtown Austin).

The Minority Mentorship Symposium follows the four-day Texas Relays spectacle (April 5-8) as the educational and networking event in conjunction with all the competition and social activities at Texas Relays.

The symposium begins with a networking brunch for the presenters, student-athletes, UT Athletics staff and special guests from 10-11 a.m. This will be followed by "Conversations with Greatness" panel discussions and breakout sessions (12:15-2:30 p.m.).

In addition to the presenters (see list, below), the Minority Mentorship Symposium will feature a welcoming address by Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, UT's Vice Provost of the Office of Inclusion & Cross-Cultural Effectiveness, as a special guest speaker. Dr. Vincent began this newly-created position at UT in August of 2005. He is a leading national figure in advancing a richly diverse educational environment for students, faculty and staff alike. Dr. Vincent also is on the UT faculty as a professor in the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education.

Serving as UT coordinators for the event are Kearney and Texas football staff members Cleve Bryant (Associate AD for Football Operations) and George Wynn (Assistant AD for Football Operations).

"The purpose of this symposium is to bring together a distinguished group of minorities with stellar credentials who have excelled at their given profession and who can provide our student-athletes a look into what it takes to make a successful transition into the corporate world," noted Kearney. "Two of the greatest outlets we have to affect change in our nation are the sporting community and the entertainment industry. I know that our panelists can speak to our student-athletes about the necessary life-skills and tools they will need to be successful in life after college.

"Each speaker has an opportunity to mentor our nation's next generation of role models, and they will talk on a variety of issues -- decision-making, appearance, networking, building relationships -- all the important components of being a success in life," Kearney stated.

The symposium's keynote speaker will be actor Hill Harper. The emcee of the event is James Irby, weekend news anchor at Austin’s Fox TV news station (KTBC TV). The distinguished list of the symposium’s six speakers in addition to Dr. Vincent are listed alphabetically as follows:

Karen Taylor Bass (Founder/President, TaylorMade Media LLC)
Since launching her own public relations company, based in Valley Stream, N.Y., in 1999, she has introduced two ground-breaking musicians to the world -- Jill Scott and D'Angelo ... her clientele include ABC Networks, Coca Cola USA, Sony Music, to name a few ... she contributed to the best-selling "Soul of My Sisters" in 2001 ... a noted speaker, she also runs "As Powerful as You Want to Be," a pr/mentoring boot camp series in six cities.

Dean Garfield (Executive VP and Chief Strategic Officer, Motion Picture Association of America)
With the MPA since June 1, 2004, Garfield was previously Vice President and Director, Legal Affairs, Worldwide Anti-Piracy at MPA prior to his elevation to Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer ... he came to MPA from the Recording Industry of America Association (RIAA), where he served as VP of Legal Affairs and also was responsible for the management and execution of the Parental Advisory Board ... Garfield received a joint degree in 1994 from NYU School of Law and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Administration and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Mister Mann Frisby (writer/reporter, author of "Holler Back" published Dec. 2005)
Frisby began his career at the Philadelphia Daily News in 1997, becoming only the second intern in the paper's history to be hired directly from an intern position ... he wrote acclaimed features for the paper until he left in 2000 to pursue a career as a novelist ... he self-published "Blinking Red Light" (2002) and after his own efforts to sell the book, was noticed and signed a two-book deal with Penguin Books ... a graduate of Penn State University, he is the founder and head coach of PhatBack Athletics, an all-boys track club and mentorship program.

Hill Harper (film/TV/stage actor)
An accomplished film, television and stage actor, Harper stars in the hit CBS drama series, CSI: NY, portraying Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, a reclusive coroner who walked away from a promising surgical career after the traumatic loss of patients ... author of the upcoming book, "Letters to a Young Brother" ... he starred in the 2004 HBO movie, Lackawanna Blues, which is based on the critically acclaimed stage play by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and which paid homage to the ties that bind a New York African-American community in the period just before desegregation ... Harper has been recognized by the NAACP Image Awards with a nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the CBS series, City of Angels ... People magazine selected Harper as one of their "Sexiest Men Alive" (2004) ... Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a bachelor of arts degree and graduated with a J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School ... he also has a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Amber Noble (Director of Marketing, Island Def Jam Music Group)
In her current role, she creates, implements and executes marketing strategies for Grammy-nominated artists ... currently, Noble is working with Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Musiq Soul Child, Patti LaBelle, the Isley Brothers, to name a few ... she also owns I FOR TALENT, a boutique talent marketing consulting firm ... prior to coming to Def Jam, she was a music production assistant and director of marketing in the entertainment/music industry ... she is a graduate of Temple University (broadcasting/mass media degree).

Keith Tribble (CEO, FedEx Orange Bowl)
For the last 13 years, Tribble has been at the Orange Bowl Committee, and in 2005-06 he led the 72-year-old not-for-profit organization to its record sixth consecutive sell-out of the Orange Bowl ... in 2004, he was recognized by Black Enterprise as one of the "50 Most Powerful Blacks in Sports" ... Sports Illustrated has named him one of the top 25 most influential minority figures in the sports world as well ... he attended the University of Florida, playing offensive guard for four bowl teams, and graduated in 1977 with a degree in journalism (public relations and marketing).

Additionally, the following will join the speakers as panelists at the symposium:

Gregory Anderson (President of Film, Tri Destined Film)
As president of Hollywood's premiere urban film and television studio, Anderson is responsible for overseeing all stages of production ... he is a noted motivational speaker, giving speeches at events including Walt Disney's Compact Awards, Martin Luther King Holiday Convocation, and the Clark Atlanta University Sports & Entertainment Institute ... his screenplays have been recognized in several competitions, including Writer's Digest... he has his undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University and also has studied writing and directing at Harvard University.

Trey Haley (President and Partner, Tri Destined Studios and Media Enterprises, Inc.)
In his present position, Trey Haley is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, as well as their niche urban division V.I.P. Corporate ... he also supervises product development, corporate relations and creating venture partnerships ... along with CEO N.D. Brown, formed Tri Destined in 1998 to fill the void of diversity in the entertainment industry ... he began his career in Denton, Texas, as a cable programmer, and attended North Texas, majoring in radio/television before moving to Los Angeles and working in some of the top production companies prior to starting his own company.

Kenneth Reeves (Vice President, Radio Shack/former NFL player)
Serving as Vice President for diversity for RadioShack Corporation, Reeves is responsible for driving diversity awareness and culture while also overseeing staffing and recruitment ... prior to joining RadioShack in 2005, he served as executive director for NOLA Computer Services (Houston) ... a graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor's in industrial distributions, he also received his master's from A&M (human resources training and development) ... a noted pro football player, he also played in the NFL.

Eurro J. Thomas [Rice] (radio personality/co-star of the Rickey Smiley Show)
Known as Eurro Thomas on the air, her full name is Eurro J. Rice ... she co-stars with critically-acclaimed comic and personality Rickey Smiley on The Beat (97.9 FM) in Dallas ... she also is the station's news and traffic director ... prior to that, she served as news director for both the Tom Joyner and the Steve Harvey Morning Show in Dallas ... Eurro is a graduate of Texas A&M University in College Station where she obtained a bachelor's degree in journalism ... she is a former "Miss Black Teenage World" and the reigning "Miss Texas Sophisticate."

Other panelists include: Dr. Myra McDaniel, former Texas Secretary of State and partner in the Austin-based law firm of Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel, LLP; Dr. Carolyn Brown, Associate Professor in the UT College of Pharmacy; women’s track alumni and former All-Americans Cynthia Rhodes Patterson (1988-91), Dana Riley (1994-97) and Angie Vaughn (1995-98); Dallas lawyer and UT Law School graduate Berna Rhodes-Ford and her husband, Dallas lawyer Aaron Ford; and Jeff Madden, UT Assistant Athletics Director for Strength & Conditioning.

"It is my prayer and belief that we all can work together to create another wave of positive role models in our communities, and create an epidemic of faith and hope to change our community, state, and ultimately, our nation. This symposium is another step in that direction," concluded Kearney.

The symposium is made possible by The Sheila Rice Challenge to Excellence Lecture Series Endowment and The Patricia Ruth Cole Endowment for Excellence.

Established in December of 1990 by Austinite Cecil Hale and the late Margie Hale, the Rice Endowment honors Dr. Sheila Rice, the first academic affairs administrator for UT Women’s Athletics who served from 1975-97. The endowment funds events for speakers to address the topics of career, academic and personal excellence.

The Cole Endowment was established in 1997 by Martha Smiley, former UT Regent, to honor the memory of Cole, a long-time supporter of UT Women’s Athletics and The University. The endowment provides funds that enable UT Athletics to better accomplish its mission as a nationally-prominent program.

The annual Texas Relays is the nation's premier outdoor track and field event, and is hosted by Texas Athletics at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the UT campus.

In conjunction with the Texas Relays, the city of Austin will host the inaugural Urban Music Festival (UMF) on Saturday, April 8 (11 a.m.-10 p.m.) along the banks of Town Lake at Auditorium Shores. UMF will be an all-day, outdoor, family-oriented event featuring live music and social activities, and will provide a unique opportunity to highlight Austin as a viable multicultural and social destination for travelers. R&B legend Chaka Khan will headline the festival, which features a complete line-up of R&B, funk and hip-hop performers.

Annually, more than 40,000 visitors from the state of Texas and the southwestern region of the U.S. flock to Austin during Relays weekend to enjoy both athletic competition and cultural connections.

For information on the Texas Relays and for tickets to the Relays and to the UMF, go to the official site of the 79th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.