Will speak on environmental issues at Nov. 2 evening program

DETROIT – Renowned environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak on “Our Environmental Destiny” Friday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. in Wayne State University’s Community Arts Auditorium. The address underscores the university’s efforts to encourage Michiganders to embrace “sustainability,” an environmentally conscious, global movement to preserve quality of life for future generations.

The Nov. 2 program will be the inaugural event in Wayne State’s Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS), an initiative aimed at stimulating public discussion on important contemporary issues and bringing WSU’s resources to bear in helping find solutions.
Wayne State President Irvin D. Reid, who conceived of and created the forum, and professor Jerry Herron, chairman of the coordinating FOCIS Committee, will make introductory remarks. The public is invited and admission is free. Reservations are required at www.focis.wayne.edu/rsvp or 313-577-0300.

“We chose ‘sustainability’ as the theme for the initial program because few issues are more important than ensuring that future generations will be able to enjoy the same standard of living as the current generation,” says Herron. “One example of Wayne State’s commitment to preserving the environment is Living Green, the president’s task force on environmental issues. Comprised of students, faculty and staff, this group looks at practical ways to conserve energy and make the university as ecologically friendly as possible.”

Reid points out that sustainability is not limited to a single field of inquiry. “It is a dynamic concept that encompasses the environment, the economy, social issues, agriculture and politics,” he notes. “Its implications are national as well as local. If we are to influence a just future for all people, we will need to work where different kinds of ideas converge and with a commitment to collaboration.”

Reid and Herron cite many examples of work relating to the concept of sustainability. Among these are a master’s degree program in renewable energy and Earth Week activities, both coordinated by the College of Engineering; a campus police patrol car (donated by DaimlerChrysler) that uses alternative fuel; and incorporation of sustainability into community service learning projects that are part of the Honors Program curricula.

Kennedy, author of the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature, has championed environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in negotiation of treaties to protect traditional homelands. He was lead negotiator for a New York City watershed agreement that is considered a model in stakeholder consensus and sustainable development. He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School and has a master’s degree in environmental law from Pace University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.

At Wayne State, Kennedy will discuss how natural surroundings influence health, work and the very identity of Americans. He has been critical of corporations and legislators whom he sees as unfriendly to the environment as well as media talk show hosts and outlets that he believes support them.

While the privately funded forum is intended to stimulate discussion within the university and throughout the Detroit area on a chosen topic, Reid points out that the FOCIS initiative involves much more than talking. “It also is about creative problem-solving, and this will be the measure of our success,” he says.

For information about WSU’s Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society and the Living Green Task Force visit www.focis.wayne.edu.  

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 35 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.