Michael Oatman, contributor to “This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women” will visit Eastern’s campus Tuesday.

“An Evening with Michael Oatman” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Doudna Fine Arts Center Theater.

The EIU Reads committee, a section of New Student Programs, chose Oatman out of 75 other contributors.

“He really talks about the power of education to be able to transform an individuals life, and so we thought his message on that plus his background and the things he has been doing would be of interest to the students on campus,” said Kimberlie Moock, the director of New Student Programs and member of the EIU Reads committee.

Oatman, a playwright and journalist, will be on campus most of the day today and half the day on Wednesday visiting various classrooms including journalism, English and theater classes along with student groups.

“We’re excited that he is not just coming for the evening presentation, but that he is actually spending other time with students surrounding some of the other things that he works on,” Moock said.

National Public Radio featured Oatman’s essay, “Admittance to a Better Life,” on June 10, 2007.

The essay was also featured in the second “This I Believe” book in 2008.

Oatman’s essay focused heavily on the role of education in his life.

“For me, education was the rabbit hole through which I escaped the underclass. I squeezed my 300-pound frame through that hole expecting others to follow, and instead, I find myself in a strange new land, mostly alone, and wondering at this new life,” he said in his essay.

Grant Malcon, a freshman undecided major, felt that “This I Believe” offered meaningful stories that could bring about good topics of discussion.

“I feel that you can connect with (This I Believe) a lot because there are a lot of stories that are personal that you may have seen or experienced yourself, so I feel like reading that book as a freshman was a good choice,” Malcon said.

“I thought it was very inspiring, actually, and it made you want to write your own essay,” said Tania Moskaluk-Vucsko, a freshman English major.

Moskaluk-Vucsko said she shared his beliefs.

Last year’s freshmen class read the first book in the “This I Believe” series, while the second book was required by this year’s freshmen.

The “This I Believe” host and editor, Jay Allison, who gave further insight into the first book, followed the reading.

Danny Damiani can be reached at 581-7942 or dtdamiani@eiu.edu.