Hosts & Entertainment
Peter Weller ('69)
Peter Weller's diverse five-decade film career includes starring roles in Robocop and its sequel, Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite and this summer's Star Trek Into Darkness. Weller, who graduated from UNT in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in theater, later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, holds a master's degree in Roman Renaissance art from Syracuse University and is working toward his Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance art history at UCLA. Weller served as host of the History Channel's Engineering an Empire.
Melissa Rycroft Strickland ('05)
Melissa Rycroft Strickland starred on ABC's hit series The Bachelor and was crowned champion of Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars in November. Rycroft first came to national prominence as a cast member of CMT's The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, winning a spot on the cheerleading squad for the 2006 season. In 2009, she was named one of People magazine's Most Beautiful People and was selected to Maxim's Hot 100. She graduated from UNT in 2005 with a degree in marketing and finance.
Musical Entertainment
Guests and honorees at the 2013 Emerald Eagle Honors will enjoy musical entertainment by the Southern rock band Prophets and Outlaws, which boasts UNT alumnus James Guckenheimer ('07) among its members. Prophets and Outlaws lead singer Matt Boggs was a finalist on the CMT reality show Can You Duet, and some of Boggs' longtime friends in a band called Rigby performed as his opening and backing band. When Boggs and the members of Rigby joined forces, they knew they had a magical musical combination, and Prophets and Outlaws was born. The group has since shared stages with UNT alumni Eli Young Band as well as country artists Pat Green and Mark Chesnutt. The band recently released its debut, self-titled EP.