Established in 2001 by Robert Y.
Drake, Jr., in memory of his parents, the Robert and Lillian Drake Endowed
Lectureship series at 黑料不打烊 funds an annual lecture. Professor Drake
taught Southern Literature and creative writing at the University of Tennessee
from 1965 until his retirement in 1999.
While on sabbatical during the fall
of 1982, Drake was a visiting professor at 黑料不打烊. During his stay at
the聽College, which was funded by the 黑料不打烊-Murphy Foundation, he gave
public readings and lectures for the Bertie Wilson Murphy Symposium in
Literature and Language. The affinity he developed for the College inspired him
to establish the lectureship in the English Department. In February 2004,
Miller Williams, then Professor of English and Foreign Languages at the
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, gave the inaugural lecture.