Lecture Series to feature Daniel Pipes, Rigoberta Menchu, Leon Panetta, Arun Gandhi

By Shirley Melikian Armbruster
University Relations

The fall University Lecture Series will feature newly appointed U.S. Institute of Peace board member and controversial writer Daniel Pipes, Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, former Clinton White House chief of staff Leon Panetta and the grandson of Mahatmas Gandhi, Arun Gandhi.

The programs are sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, the University Student Union, Associated Students, Inc., Coke and James Hallowell, KJWL, Borders and Piccadilly Inn Hotels.

Arun Gandhi will lead off the series on Oct. 1, in conjunction with Fresno Pacific University and “Build a Culture of Peace Week” activities. He will participate in a garlanding ceremony in the Peace Garden at Fresno State, beginning at 1 p.m. He also will speak on “Non-Violence or Non-Existence” at the 7 p.m. lecture in the Fresno Memorial Auditorium. These events are free and open to the public.

Arun Gandhi continues the legacy of Gandhi, the legendary peace fighter and spiritual leader, through the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. The institute's mission is to foster understanding of nonviolence and to put that philosophy to practical use through workshops, lectures and community outreach programs.

After leading successful projects for economic and social reform in India, Arun Gandhi came to the United States in 1988 to complete research for a comparative study on racism in America. In 1991, he and his wife, Sunanda, founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, headquartered at Christian Brothers University in Memphis. For more information, see www.gandhiinstitute.org.

The other fall University Lecture Series programs all start at 7:30 p.m. in the Satellite Student Union. Tickets are required.

Daniel Pipes, an outspoken Middle East scholar, will speak Oct. 21. President Bush appointed Pipes in August to the board of the United States Institute of Peace. The appointment met with opposition from a number of Islamic and Arab organizations because of Pipes’ stand on Middle East issues.

His next book, “Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics,” will appear from Transaction Publishers in October 2003. His Web site, www.DanielPipes.org is the single most accessed source of information specifically on the Middle East and Islam.

Pipes frequently discusses current issues on television, appearing on such programs as “ABC World News,” “CBS Reports,” “Crossfire,” “Good Morning America,” “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” “Nightline,” “O'Reilly Factor” and “The Today Show.” He has appeared on leading television networks around the globe, including the BBC and Al-Jazeera.

He is the author of 12 books and has published in such magazines as the Atlantic Monthly, Commentary, Foreign Affairs, Harper's, National Review, New Republic and The Weekly Standard. His    writings have been translated into 19 languages and he has lectured in twenty-five countries.

On Nov. 13, Leon Panetta will speak on “The Challenges of Leadership in Out Time.” As White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration, Panetta earned the respect and high regard of his political colleagues and the press. Credited with bringing stability to the White House, Panetta had been director of the Office of Management and Budget and served in the House of Representatives for 16 years.

Panetta is director of the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at CSU Monterey Bay, and was named a Distinguished Scholar by the Chancellor of the California State University system. He is chairman of the Board of Directors at the Center for National Policy in Washington, D.C. and of Pew Ocean Commission.

He serves on the Board of Directors for the New York Stock Exchange, the Fleishman-Hillard International Advisory board, along with local and other national boards.

Rigoberta Menchú, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, will speak on Nov. 18 about her life in Guatemala.

Menchú, a native of Guatemala, is known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but also in the Western Hemisphere.

Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala's bloody civil war. Protesters against human-rights abuses, her father, mother and younger brother were killed by Guatamalan soldiers, and in 1981 Menchú fled the country and settled in Mexico.

At home and abroad, she has worked to secure and protect the rights of indigenous peoples in her country and to promote intercultural peace. For her efforts, Menchú was awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize.

She used the monetary award that accompanied the Nobel Peace Prize to start the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation. Her life story, “I, Rigoberta Menchú,” attracted considerable international attention.

Advance Tickets for the University Lecture Series are available at the University Student Union Information Center and Borders in Riverpark. Season and Individual Ticket Sales will be sold on a seating space available basis in the Satellite Student Union Box Office from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Season tickets are $40 for the general public; $30 for Fresno State faculty, staff, Alumni Association members and seniors; $20 for elementary and secondary students; and $8 for Fresno State Students.

Single-event tickets are $10 general admission; $6 Fresno State faculty, staff, Alumni Association members and seniors; $5 elementary and secondary students; and $2 Fresno State students. Ticket prices on the day of the event increase by $2 for general admission, faculty, staff and Alumni Association members.

For further information contact the University Lecture Series office at 8-2636 or see www.csufresno.edu/universitylecture.