Marc Zawel, former managing editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, will return to his alma mater Thursday, Oct. 13, to talk about the national release of his first published work, "Untangling the Ivy League 2006," a project that began during his senior year at Cornell University.

The hefty 550-page book, published by College Prowler, is the first comprehensive guide of its kind, covering every aspect – from admissions and athletics to secret societies and urban legends – at eight of the nation's oldest, wealthiest and most-competitive colleges and universities.

Zawel, who graduated from Cornell in 2004, will speak Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in 132 Rockefeller Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Zawel will talk about the process of getting published, the challenges he faced and some of the more interesting stories and facts he learned about the "Ancient Eight," which includes Cornell, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale.

The book, which took more than two years to produce, includes interviews with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Cornell alumna, and experts such as Jeff Orleans, executive director of the Ivy League; Shannon Duff, founder of Collegiate Compass; and several anonymous Ivy League admissions officers.

As the book's principal author, Zawel headed a large team of research assistants who interviewed thousands of students at all eight Ivy League campuses. Some of the topics they address are: What makes Yale's Skull & Bones the most elusive and influential secret society of all? How has the Ivy League influenced pop culture, the economy, politics and technology? What about suicide rates and grade inflation? Did events in the movie "Animal House" actually take place at Dartmouth?

A history major at Cornell, Zawel was a dean's list student and recipient of a Baccalaureate Service Award. He was active in organizations, including the Arts and Sciences Ambassadors, an admissions office outreach program; Mortar Board, a national senior honor society; and Victory Club, an annual black-tie charity fund raiser sponsored by Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. At the Cornell Daily Sun, he worked as a reporter, news editor and managing editor. He now works as a freelance writer, focusing on admissions and higher education. His articles have appeared in national publications, including The New York Times, Business 2.0 and Playboy.

Zawel's talk is sponsored by the Office of Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, the Cornell Daily Sun, the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, the Society for the Humanities and Cornell University Communications.