A Kennedy at Kenyon
Kennedy, listed among Time magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" for his work to restore the Hudson River, will discuss "Our Environmental Destiny" at 6:30 p.m. in Rosse Hall.
Kennedy is president of the nonprofit Waterkeeper Alliance, with 130 chapters dedicated to clean water projects around the world, and he is the chief prosecuting attorney for the nonprofit Hudson Riverkeeper Fund, which seeks to protect the Hudson River ecosystem.
Kennedy's appearance is sponsored by Student Lectureships. He was invited to the College by Matthew Segal, Class of 2008, who is president of the nonprofit Student Association for Voter Empowerment. Segal "built a friendship" with Kennedy after Kennedy wrote a story for Rolling Stone about irregularities in the 2004 presidential election, during which Gambier attracted national attention for long lines outside voting booths.
"He's one of the most distinguished environmentalists in the country," Segal said. Environmental stewardship is of universal concern, he said, and the lecture should have bipartisan appeal. Both men want to see environmental issues take on a higher profile in the 2008 presidential election.
Kennedy is the son of the former U.S. attorney general and senator from New York who was assassinated in 1968. He is a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963. He is on the faculty of the Pace University School of Law and is the supervising attorney at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic. Kennedy has also worked with indigenous tribes in Canada and Latin America to negotiate treaties protecting traditional homelands.
He is the author of several books, including the 2004 New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature. Kennedy is also a master falconer and white-water rafting enthusiast.
The free lecture is open to the public.