Seventh season of University Lectures celebrates individuals who take responsibility to make a difference

Seventh season of University Lectures celebrates individuals who take responsibility to make a differenceApril 12, 2007Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

The 2007-08 University Lectures season celebrates individuals who have taken charge by taking action and responsibility with intelligence and creativity. The series will include seven motivators, innovators and entrepreneurs who have made powerful, positive differences in their worlds.

“The entire community will benefit tremendously from the presence of this season’s University Lectures speakers,” says Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina. “As each of us works to become more engaged in all aspects of our world, it’s a privilege to be able to meet with and hear firsthand from people who have taken responsibility in challenging situations and who have acted selflessly on behalf of their communities.”

Each of this season’s speakers, profiled below, has confronted adversity by taking responsibility and acting to make a difference. All lectures will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Carl Schramm Economist, Lawyer, Entrepreneur”The Entrepreneurial Imperative”Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.Schramm is president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (http://www.kauffman.org/). Trained both as an economist and lawyer, Schramm is considered an active entrepreneur and is the author of “The Entrepreneurial Imperative” (Collins, 2006) and co-author of “Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism” (May 2007, Yale University Press).

Judy Wicks and Alice WatersActivist Entrepreneurs”Doing Well and Doing Good”Moderated by Professor Don MitchellOct. 9, 7:30 p.m.

Wicks is owner and founder of the White Dog Cafe (http://www.whitedog.com) in Philadelphia. She is an activist and entrepreneur whose motto is “doing well by doing good.” Waters is the owner of the Chez Panisse restaurant(http://www.chezpanisse.com) in Berkeley, Calif., and is also known as the founder and director of “The Edible Schoolyard,” located for years at the Dr. Martin Luther King School in Los Angeles.

This event will be a dialogue between Wicks and Waters, moderated by Mitchell, who has been leading the hunger mapping project in Syracuse. This event is co-sponsored by the Syracuse Symposium and will have a heavy focus on the issue of food justice. While in Syracuse, Wicks will take part in a local nonprofit event.

Tracy Kidder Author, “Mountains Beyond Mountains”Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.

Kidder is the author of several books, including the 2007 Shared Reading selection and the CNY Reads 2008 selection, “Mountains beyond Mountains” (Random House, 2004). This is a co-sponsored collaboration with the Syracuse Public Library — Friends of the Central Library (Gifford Lecture Series)(http://www.onlib.org/website/giffordseries.htm). Kidder will also give a presentation to Syracuse City School District students on the morning of Nov. 6 in Hendricks Chapel.

Marjorie HillCEO, Gay Men’s Health Crisis”HIV/AIDS, 25 Years Later”Feb. 26, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

Hill is the CEO of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in Washington, D.C., (http://www.gmhc.org) the nation’s oldest AIDS service organization. A licensed clinical psychologist, Hill has consulted and lectured on issues of cultural diversity, HIV/AIDS in communities of color, and homophobia. She will speak about the HIV/AIDS crisis — the issues, the myths, and where society is both nationally and internationally 25 years after the disease first became known. While in Syracuse, Hill will appear at an event for a local nonprofit organization.

Robert Satloff Executive Director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy”The Arab-Israeli Peace Process”March 18, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

Satloff is an expert on Arab and Islamic politics, as well as U.S. Middle East policy. He has written and spoken widely on the Arab-Israeli peace process, the Islamist challenge to the growth of democracy in the region, and the need for bold and innovative public diplomacy to Arabs and Muslims.

Eboo Patel Founder and Director of the Interfaith Youth Core”The Impact of Interfaith Youth Service”March 27, 2008, 7:30 p.m.

Patel received his doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. An accomplished author and public speaker, he is the founder and director of the Interfaith Youth Core (http://www.ifyc.org/), which he began in 1998. It is a highly effective interfaith youth service learning methodology. Through seven years of grassroots experience on five continents, IFYC has reached 36,000 people with its message and services. Programs in Chicago (its base) have brought together thousands of people from different faiths to work on community service projects.

In 2003, IFYC began training others, nationally and internationally, in its methodology for organizing youth service programming in communities around the world. This event is co-sponsored by Hendricks Chapel. In addition to his University Lectures presentation, Patel will meet with a wide variety of campus and community organizations and groups.

About the University Lectures

University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University some of the world’s finest academicians, architects, designers, writers, business and media experts, and statesmen. The series is supported by the generosity of Robert B. Menschel, a 1951 graduate of Syracuse University. More information about University Lectures is available at http://provost.syr.edu/lectures/current.asp.

The Office of University Lectures welcomes suggestions for future speakers. To recommend a speaker, or for additional information about the University Lectures, contact Esther Gray in the Office of Academic Affairs at (315) 443-2941 or eegray@syr.edu.