February 24, 1998 Contact: Jean Moore, (615) 322-2706 jean.moore@vanderbilt.edu or JoEllen Fowler, (615) 322-8240 joellen.fowler@vanderbilt.edu

Promoting friendships among students with and without

disabilities focus of Kennedy Center's Community

Crossroads Breakfast

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - "Making Friends - Promoting Friendships Among Students With and Without Disabilities" will be the topic of the next Kennedy Center Community Crossroads Breakfast, on Thursday, Feb. 26. The program begins at 7:30 a.m. in Room 241 of the Kennedy Center/MRL Building on the Peabody campus of Vanderbilt University.

Craig H. Kennedy, associate professor of special education and a Kennedy Center investigator, will discuss his work on the effects of educational placement on the social relationships of intermediate school students with severe disabilities. His areas of special interest are people with severe disabilities, social relationships/networks, behavioral causes of problem behavior, instructional procedures, and middle and secondary schooling/transition.

Elise McMillan, senior lecturer in human resources and Kennedy Center director of development, will serve as discussion moderator and commentator.

Community Crossroads offers people an opportunity to hear first-hand of exciting discoveries related to human development. The breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m., the program at 7:45 a.m., audience questions and discussion at 8:20 a.m., concluding by 8:30 a.m.

Community Crossroads breakfasts are free and open to the public, but persons planning to have breakfast should call 322-8240 in advance for reservations.

-VU-

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News and Public Affairs home page on the Internet at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News.