Camarillo, CA. – CSU Channel Islands’ Associate Professor of English, Bob Mayberry will present Dining with the Donners: Chewing on History on Monday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in the John Spoor Broome Library, room 1756. Mayberry will speak about the sabbatical process and finishing a 12-part cycle of one-act plays entitled The Donner Party Cycle. Mayberry, student actors, and students from his playwriting class, will present a reading from his one-act plays. The public is invited but space is limited. Reservations may be made by calling 805-437-8454.

Mayberry, growing up in Reno, was intrigued by the story of the Donner Party, a westward migration in 1846 of nearly 20 covered wagons going from Springfield, Illinois to California. During the journey the group split and other members joined as they endured horrendous hardships. Only nine wagons finally reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Donner Lake where they were overtaken and stopped by severe winter storms, resulting in starvation, which it is believed led to acts of cannibalism.

Mayberry did much research and preliminary work, visiting historical sites of the Donner Party, as he honed the idea of a dramatic work that blended history with the playwriting process. In June of 2009, on a 16-month sabbatical, he wrote his Donner Party cycle.

There will also be a production of the first half of the 12-part cycle by the Performing Arts program on the CI campus in March 2011.

CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

CI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.