January 27, 2009

Tickets available for Robert Kennedy speech

The speech, sponsored by the College of Engineering as part of National Engineers Week, will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in Elliott Hall of Music.

The speech is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets can be picked up Monday through Friday at the Elliott Hall of Music box office between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., at Stewart Center between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and at Pao Hall between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets also can be reserved by calling the Elliott Hall of Music box office at (765) 494-3933. Those tickets will be held at will call.

There is no limit on how many tickets can be picked up or reserved.

 Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, will speak on "Our Environmental Destiny."

Kennedy has spent his much of his adult life working on environmental concerns through the National Resources Defense Council and Hudson Riverkeepers. As president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, he works with more than 160 national and international organizations focusing on clean water.

He is a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law's Environmental Litigation Clinic in White Plains, N.Y.  He was named one of TIME magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" for his success in helping Riverkeepers lead the fight to clean the Hudson River.

He has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in negotiating treaties to protect traditional homelands and helped negotiate the New York City watershed agreement to protect the city's waterways from pollution.

Among the books he has authored are "Crimes Against Nature," "The Riverkeepers," and Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr.: A Biography."

Kennedy co-hosts the "Ring of Fire" radio show at 3 p.m. Saturdays on AirAmerica with attorney Mike Papantonio. The show focuses on environmental, political and media issues.

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, (765) 494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu  

Source: Amy Noah, University Development Office, (765) 494-0164, arnoah@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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