University of Wisconsin students this month will have the opportunity to hear a nationally renowned speaker's opinions about how race continues to affect American society.

The Diversity Education Program announced Wednesday author Michael Eric Dyson would be the keynote speaker for the program's second annual "Creating Institutional Change" conference, which lasts March 23-25.

"He's really hot right now and all over the map," DEP Director Bill Hebert said. "[Dyson's] message is looking at color, through his speech, which is focusing on the Katrina tragedy."

Dyson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, authored "Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster," which deals with the socioeconomic and political issues arising with Hurricane Katrina.

According to a press release, the book "argues that the nation's failure to offer timely aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina indicates deeper problems in race and class relations."

Hebert said Dyson's speech will center on the issue of color and how Americans today continue to deal with race and ethnicity problems.

"When he looks at the disenfranchised people in America, Katrina falls right into that," Hebert said. "It's a cultural devastation he's going to address."

Dyson's voice is well-known around the nation, and he is a regular commentator on National Public Radio, CNN and the television program "Real Time with Bill Maher," the release said.

In addition to Dyson's keynote address, Julie Chavez Rodriguez — granddaughter of Cesar Chavez — will speak on the opportunity to create change among the world's youth.

"She has a real positive message," Hebert said. "High school and college students are her audience, and her speech … is very powerful."

Currently, Chavez is the program director for the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation and helped establish the National Youth Leadership Initiative, a program aiming to fight civic disengagement in young adults.

While the three-day CIC conference is still relatively new to students, Hebert said he believes the message behind the entire conference applies not just to UW students but students everywhere.

"We really want to focus on Big Ten institutions and our partnerships with the community," Hebert added. "It's about empowering the students we have on campus so they start looking themselves at change agents."

The conference is free for UW students and takes place March 23-25. Chavez will speak March 23 at 7:45 p.m., and Dyson will speak March 24 at 7:30 p.m. Both will speak in the Agriculture Hall Auditorium.