Joe Ehrmann Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (March 7, 2006) – The Gender Studies Project at Messiah College will host its annual Riegsecker Lecture featuring speaker Joe Ehrmann, former professional football player and founder of Building Men for Others. The lecture will be held on March 29, at 7 p.m. in room 110 of Frey Academic Hall, located on Messiah College’s Grantham campus.  The lecture, “Building Leaders for the Future,” will be followed by a book signing and reception. This event is free and open to the public. For more information about the lecture, call Debra Berke at (717) 796-1800, extension 7205.

Ehrmann was an All-American football player at Syracuse University and played most of his 13-year professional football career as a defensive lineman for the Baltimore Colts. He became an ordained minister in 1985 and for the past 20 years has been addressing issues of poverty, racism, domestic violence and child abuse. Ehrmann founded Building Men for Others, an organization which holistically addresses issues of masculinity and femininity. He is the subject of the New York Times Bestseller “Season of Life,” written by Pulitzer Prize-winner and former teammate Jeffery Marx. In 2004, Ehrmann was featured in “Parade Magazine,” which named him “The Most Important Coach in America” because of his work to transform the culture of sports.

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,900 undergraduate students in 50 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.