Jan. 13, 2010

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Incoming Furman president Rod Smolla will headline Furman University's football banquet, scheduled for Feb. 13 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Greenville downtown, it was announced today.

Smolla, who will become the university's 11th president on July 1, currently serves as Dean of the Washington & Lee School of Law. He previously served as Dean and Allen Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and, prior to that, Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William & Mary.

A native of the Chicago area, he is a 1975 graduate of Yale University, where he was a member of the football team. He graduated first is in his class from Duke Law School in 1978.

Smolla is widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars in America on issues relating to freedom of speech, academic freedom and freedom of the press. He has presented arguments in state and federal courts throughout the nation, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Tickets to the banquet, which will honor the 2009 Paladins, are $40 per person and can be secured online at https://alumni.furman.edu/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=715&frcrld=1 or by check, made payable to Furman Football at 3300 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, S.C. 29613. For more information, please contact Stephanie Arvai at 864-294-2120.

For those seeking overnight accommodations, the Hyatt Regency Greenville is offering a special Furman Football Valentines rate of $99, which also includes champagne, chocolates, and overnight parking at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/Furman21310