The WILL Program and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies present

Rhetoric & Reality
Race & Gender/ Power & Politics

The Forum and the annual WILL Speaker Series have merged to produce the 2007-08 season. Other partners in the planning and funding consortium are: The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, the Office of Common Ground, the Robins School of Business, the Richmond Quest and the University of Richmond School of Law.

Reserved seating information
All events are free and open to the public. Tickets are free and may be reserved three weeks before the event by calling (804) 289-8980. Patrons may pick up tickets at the Modlin Center Box Office or at the will-call table the evening of a Forum.  The evening of the event, patrons without tickets may wait in a standby line.

A Dialogue on Left, Right and Center
Political observers Susan Estrich and Richard Lowry
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m.
Modlin Center for the Arts

He’s inside the Beltway, she’s West Coast. He leans right, she left. Opening night offers a spirited dialogue and interactive session on society, law, culture and the election season with outspoken attorney Susan Estrich and National Review editor Richard Lowry. Estrich wrote Sex & Power and The Case for Hillary Clinton and Lowry wrote Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years. Both are commentators and analysts for Fox News. Book signing. This program is co-sponsored by the University or Richmond School of Law and is the 21st Annual Emanuel Emroch Lecture.

Beyond Black and White/ All about Barack and Much More
National Public Radio’s senior correspondent Juan Williams
Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Modlin Center for the Arts

One of the nation’s leading political writers and thinkers, Juan Williams examines American politics, civic rights, law and culture. He navigates the difficult terrain of race relations with an honest and compelling voice. An influential chronicler of the civil rights movement, he wrote Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. His acclaimed biography Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary was reissued with a new epilogue in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education decision. His newest book is Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America—and What We Can Do About It. Book signing.

Media Messages,  Missteps and Inside Stories from Newsrooms and Campaigns  
Monday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

From blogs to The New York Times, from talk radio to the alphabet soup of 24-hour TV news, media provides the forums for our national discourse. Knowledgeable insiders discuss leadership challenges within their industry and news gatherers’ responsibility to society. They will talk about point of view, balance, civility, stereotypes and fairness. Roberta Oster Sachs, a former television news producer and Richmond Law School associate dean who teaches media and leadership at the Jepson School, will moderate the discussion among: Lisa Green, Senior Producer, NBC Weekend Today; Glenn Proctor, Executive Editor, Richmond Times-Dispatch and Keith Woods, Dean of Faculty, Poynter Institute.

Americans in a Different Mirror: How We Are Connected to Each Other and What Our Future Holds
Ronald Takaki, Professor Emeritus, Asian American Studies, University of California, Berkeley Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

How should Americans build connections across cultures, backgrounds and identities? No one is better able to answer that question than distinguished scholar Ronald Takaki. His groundbreaking 1993 book, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, which offers stories of the “melting pot” history of the United States, has never been more timely then it is today amidst debates about border security and immigration. Takaki is also the author of Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America and Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Book signing. Dr. Takaki’s appearance is also sponsored by the Office of Common Ground and the Robins School of Business and the Richmond Quest.

Through the Labyrinth: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Women as Leaders
Alice Eagly, Department Chair and Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University 
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m. 
Jepson Alumni Center

In many nations, women have gained considerable access to leadership roles and are increasingly praised for their excellent leadership skills. In fact, women, more than men, manifest leadership styles associated with effective performance as leaders. Nevertheless, more people prefer male bosses, and research demonstrates that women can still face impediments to attaining leadership roles and barriers to success. Reactions to Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate illustrate these phenomena. The mix of apparent advantages and disadvantages of women as leaders reflects substantial progress toward gender equality coupled with the lack of attainment of this goal. Alice Eagly, one of the nation’s top researchers on the effects of gender on leadership, is co-author of The Psychology of Attitudes and The Psychology of Gender. She co-authored her newest book, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders, with Linda Carli. Book signing.

Taking the Nation’s Pulse
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

The 2007-08 presidential primary season is a tsunami of change. This conversation covers current events—the polls, the primaries, the candidates, the fundraising, the rhetoric—and predications regarding voters’ choices. Alan Ehrenhalt, longtime editor of the Washington-based Governing magazine and a visiting scholar at the Jepson School, will lead the conversation. Speakers will include:

Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Associate Professor of Political Science and Chicano/Latino Studies, the University of California, Irvine

Rhodes Cook, an independent political analyst and author of several books on presidential elections and voting patterns

Janelle Wong, Associate Professor of Political Science and American Studies and Ethnicity, the University of Southern California.

Leading with a Feminist Curiosity: How to Explore Our Militarized Culture
Cynthia Enloe, Professor of International Development, Community and Environment and Women’s Studies, Clark University
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

National identity and the United States’ military and peacekeeping roles in the world are key points of discussion in these times. Feminism, militarization and globalization are areas of study for Cynthia Enloe, who researches some of our culture’s most deeply embedded beliefs and behaviors. Her current work includes the exploration of how men and women are caught up in the militarization of American culture and political life. She is the author of The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire and Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. Book signing.  

Rage, Rap and Reality: An Evening with Chuck D
Chuck D, founder of Public Enemy
Tuesday, March 18, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

Art and activism combine in the work of Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, known by his stage name Chuck D. The American rapper, composer, author, radio personality and producer furthered 1980s political rap as the lead vocalist in the influential Public Enemy, creator of two seminal recordings, Fear of a Black Planet and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.  Black men’s disenfranchisement and distance from the mainstream America of wealth and privilege simmers in a stew of anger, need, poverty and oppression that boils into raw expression and cries for change. It blasts from radios, in music videos and in clubs and concerts. On the Forum stage, Chuck D discusses the Hip-Hop movement and rap’s crude, cruel street language. The legendary Hip-Hop activist/artist illuminates the most perplexing parts of leadership – the complexity of humanity and how we communicate with each other. Chuck D’s campus visit is also sponsored by the Office of Common Ground.

The WILL Program and Richmond Quest present

Problem & Policy/ Activism & Advocacy
Discussions on Domestic Violence
February 21 - 29

Crime, Punishment and Legal Issues: Restoring Liberty and Equality to Battered Women
Diane Rosenfeld, Harvard law professor and lecturer in women's studies
Thursday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m.
Whitehurst Living Room

Diane Rosenfeld formerly served as the Senior Counsel to the Violence Against Women Office at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that capacity, she participated in the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act, both within the Department of Justice and in the various state and federal agencies that are concerned with translating the Act into effective programs. Rosenfeld spent two years in the Graduate Program of Harvard Law School, first as a Visiting Researcher, then receiving her LL.M in 1996. She also served for several years as a legal policy advisor to the Illinois Attorney General where her main areas of expertise were women's advocacy, environmental enforcement and professional responsibility of government lawyers.

Close to Home: How to Be an Advocate for Self and Others
Lisa Furr, Project Coordinator, Central Virginia Task Force on Older Battered Women
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 4 p.m.
Brown-Alley Room

Lisa Furr is Project Coordinator for the Central Virginia Task Force on Older Battered Women, a collaboration of organizations, led by the Virginia Center on Aging which works to raise awareness and improve the community’s response to women aged 50 and older who experience domestic, sexual or family violence. Lisa serves on the governing body of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and is a trainer for the Alliance as well. She was previously the Community Educator and Volunteer Coordinator at Safe Harbor, a domestic violence center in Henrico.  Lisa has over 15 years of experience in group dynamics, training, diversity, and human resource management.

From Out in the World to Our Hometown: Working Together to End Violence
Michael Kaufman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, an international movement of men working to end violence against women
Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Alice Haynes Room, Tyler Haynes Commons

Michael Kaufman is a speaker, writer, and consultant on gender issues. He is the founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women.  His six books include ones on gender issues (Cracking the Armor: Power, Pain and the Lives of Men; Beyond Patriarchy: Essays By Men on Pleasure Power and Change; Theorizing Masculinities), books on democracy and development studies (Community Power and Grassroots Democracy; Jamaica Under Manley), and an award winning novel (The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars).

Politics and Poetics
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, Chinese-Taiwanese-American spoken-word artist and activist
Friday, Feb. 29, lunch discussion session, 12:30 p.m. in the Think Tank, Tyler Haynes Commons
Friday, Feb. 29, performance, 9 p.m. in the Pier, Tyler Haynes Commons

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai got an early taste of the Chicago poetry slam scene as a high school student and went on to flex her skills as a founding member of Sirenz. Her formative experiences as a community organizer, domestic violence counselor, oral historian and youth worker ground her commitment to social justice, non-violence and the uplift of youth voices through the arts. She has released two self-published chapbooks: Inside Outside Outside Inside and Thought Crimes, and her debut spoken word album produced by Celena Glenn, Infinity Breaks.  She has been involved in numerous arts organizing efforts including Women Outloud, the Asian American Artists Collective Chicago, Young Asians with Power (YAWP), No Thanks!giving, and the 2nd National Asian Pacific Islander American Spoken Word Summit. 

This series is sponsored by WILL and the Richmond Quest with additional support from Westhampton and Richmond Colleges. Programs are free but seating is limited. For information: 289-8578. Additional programs may be added.

The WILL Program and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies present

Leadership, Strategy and Social Change
Tuesday & Wednesday, April 1 & 2, Jepson Alumni Center   

This symposium will focus on leadership and social change and the connections between gender, race, sexuality and class. The complete line-up of speakers will be announced in January 2008. This event is co-sponsored by the Richmond Quest and the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. Highlights are:  

A People’s History of Rights, Justice and Change
Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, Boston University  
Tuesday, April 1, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

Acclaimed historian, political theorist, teacher, storyteller and author of the legendary book A Peoples History of the United States: 1492-Present, Howard Zinn studies the obstacles confronting social movements and the ways they have been overcome in history. Professor Zinn argues that it is the social responsibility of the historian to do work that will help solve the conflicts humans face. His well-known A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present, which has sold more than one million copies, tells American history from the point of view of  the powerless and disenfranchised, those whose circumstances are usually omitted from history books. Book signing.

Leading Social Change: Relationships, Story and Strategy
Marshall Ganz, Lecturer in Public Policy, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Wednesday, April 2, noon
Jepson Alumni Center

Marshall Ganz entered Harvard College in the fall of 1960. In 1964, he dropped out to go to Mississippi as a civil rights organizer. In 1965, he joined Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers and spent his career in union, community and political organizing. In 1991, he returned to Harvard College and completed a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in sociology. He teaches, researches and writes on leadership, organization and strategy in social movements and politics. In his Richmond visit, Dr. Ganz will present a lunchtime keynote address followed by a workshop for nonprofit leaders and students. Separate registration required for this event. Email Jepson@richmond.edu  

The Next Vanguard in Civil Rights—Abandoning the Myth of Meritocracy
Lani Guinier, Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m.
Jepson Alumni Center

The first black woman to be appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law is the author of numerous articles on democratic theory, political representation, educational equity and issues of race and gender. A leading voice for political reform, she advocates rethinking race and class and changing the way we look at affirmative action. She is the author of Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice, The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy, co-author of Who’s Qualified? and co-author of The Miner’s Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy. Book signing.