Amnesty International Executive Director William Schulz to present next University Lecture, Feb. 28

Amnesty International Executive Director William Schulz to present next University Lecture, Feb. 28February 23, 2006Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International (USA) has won international attention as an advocate for human rights. An outspoken critic of some of the Bush administration’s tactics in the war on terror, he will share his views on the importance of finding a balance between the right to security and the right to liberty Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Schulz’s appearance, part of the University Lectures series, is free and open to the public; free parking for the lecture will be available in the Irving Avenue parking garage.

As executive director of Amnesty International (USA) for more than 10 years, Schulz has worked tirelessly in support of Amnesty’s mission to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, Schulz joined Amnesty International in 1994 after serving for 15 years with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, including eight years as president of that organization. Schulz’s commitment to human rights has taken him to trouble spots around the world, including El Salvador, Romania, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. In 1997, he led an Amnesty mission to Liberia to investigate atrocities committed during the civil war there.

Schulz is a member of the International Advisory Committee for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. He is quoted widely in newspapers and magazines and is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows. His most recent book is “Tainted Legacy: 9-11 and the Ruin of Human Rights” (Nation Books, 2003).

The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s trustees, alumni and friends.

The next University Lectures speaker will be engineer and author Henry Petroski onTuesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. Also, note that the WilmaMankiller lecture has been rescheduled to Tuesday, March 28,at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. More information isavailable at http://provost.syr.edu/lectures/current.asp.