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For Immediate Release
September 3, 2003
SYMPOSIUM TO ADDRESS DIFFERING
VIEWS OF AMERICAN DREAM
Native American rights, equal opportunity,
and populist speakers coming to wesleyan speaker series
LINCOLN, Neb. —Four renowned keynote speakers
including a Native American rights leader, the president of the
Center for Equal Opportunity, and a national radio commentator known
as “America’s most popular populist,” will share
their definition of the American Dream when Nebraska Wesleyan University
presents Visions and Ventures III: “Reimagining the American
Dream: Opportunities for Action” September 17-18..
Initiated by Nebraska Wesleyan University students
and funded primarily by the Student Affairs Senate, the annual speaker
series will analyze varying degrees of the American dream and its
existence. The university community, high schools, educators, and
members of the public are invited to attend this free symposium.
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John Echohawk, executive director of the Native
American Rights Fund, will open the speaker series on Wednesday,
September 17 at 7 p.m. with his presentation, “The American
Dream Includes Americans Too?” .
Linda Chavez, president of the Center For Equal
Opportunity, will speak Thursday, September 18 at 9 a.m. on “Melting
Pot or Boiling Point: America in the 21st Century.” Known
for her tough stance on controversial issues, Chavez has made recent
headlines for her comments about the Dixie Chicks, the Supreme Court’s
decision regarding college admissions policies, and the California
gubernatorial race.
C. Conrad Cherry, distinguished professor emeritus
at Indiana University, will speak at 1 p.m. regarding the American
dream and how it affects religious education.
The symposium will conclude at 7 p.m. with national
radio commentator and former Texas agriculture commissioner Jim
Hightower. Hightower’s newest book, Thieves In High Places:
They’ve Stolen Our Country And Its Time To Take It Back
was released in August and has already made the New York Times
Best Sellers List. Hightower will be available for a book signing
reception following his presentation.
All presentations are free and open to the public.
A schedule of events and complete biographical information follows.
Media: Most speakers will be available for
interviews. Specific media availability times and locations will
be announced as the event approaches.
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Symposium
Visions & Ventures III:
Reimagining The American Dream: Opportunities For Action
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, September 17
7 p.m., John Echohawk, “The American Dream Includes Native
Americans Too?” O’Donnell Auditorium
Thursday, September 18
9 a.m., Linda Chavez, “Melting Pot Or Boiling Point: America
In The 21st Century,” O’Donnell Auditorium
1 p.m., C. Conrad Cherry, “The American Dream
And How It Affects Religious Education,” O’Donnell Auditorium
7 p.m., Jim Hightower, national radio commentator,
author of Thieves In High Places and If Gods Had Meant
Us To Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates, O’Donnell
Auditorium. Book signing reception to follow in Elder Gallery.
Campus/Lincoln Facility Locations
Elder Gallery and O’Donnell Auditorium are located in the
Vance D. Rogers Center for the Fine Arts, 50th Street and Huntington
Avenue.
Visions & Ventures III
Biographical Information
John Echohawk, a Pawnee, is the
executive director of the Native American Rights Fund. He was the
first graduate of the University of New Mexico’s special program
to train Indian lawyers, and was a founding member of the American
Indian Law Students Association while in law school. He has been
with NARF since its inception, having served continuously as executive
director since 1977. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most
influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal since
1988.
The New York Times calls Linda
Chavez “an influential voice on civil liberty policy.”
Chavez, the president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, also
writes a weekly syndicated column, which appears in newspapers across
the country and is a political analyst for the Fox News Channel.
In 2000, she was honored by the Library of Congress as a “living
legend” for contributions to America’s cultural and
historical legacy. In January 2001, Chavez was George W. Bush’s
nominee for Secretary of Labor, until she withdrew her name from
consideration.
C. Conrad Cherry is a distinguished
professor emeritus for the department of religious studies at Indiana
University. He has been called “one of the foremost architects
of the discipline of religious studies in the United States.”
His book, God’s New Israel, has been called the single
most valuable collection of primary materials available on American
civil religion.
National radio commentator, renown public speaker,
and author of If The Gods Had Meant Us To Vote, They Would Have
Given Us Candidates, Jim Hightower has spent
three decades battling the “powers that be” on behalf
of the “powers that ought to be” — consumers,
working families, environmentalists, small business and just-plain-folk.
Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower believes
that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to
bottom. He is known as “America’s most popular populist,”
has built up a significant national radio presence for left-of-center
politics, and recently released another book, Thieves In High
Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country And Its Time To Take It
Back.
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