GRANVILLE - Human rights activist Kerry Kennedy Cuomo will address the issue of "Erosion of Civil Liberties Since 9/11" in an All-College Convocation at 8 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 12) in Swasey Chapel on the campus of Denison University.

Kennedy Cuomo is the author ofSpeak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World, which features interviews with human rights activists ranging from the famous (Marian Wright Edelman, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu) to lesser known stories of courage. The book was accompanied by a major exhibition at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. It has also led to a theatrical presentation written by Ariel Dorfman, a television program airing on PBS, a record album, and a web site.

Kerry Kennedy Cuomo

Kennedy Cuomo started working in the field of human rights in 1981 when she investigated abuses committed by U.S. immigration officials against refugees from El Salvador. Since then she has led more than 40 human rights delegations to some 30 countries. She established the RFK Center for Human Rights to ensure the protection of rights codified under the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. The Center provides a base of support to human rights defenders and uncovers and publicizes abuses such as torture, disappearances and repression of free speech.

The daughter of Ethel Kennedy and the late Robert F. Kennedy, she served as executive director and is now on the board of directors of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, a non-profit organization she organized in 1988 that addresses the problems of social justice. She also directed three programs: the National Juvenile Justice Project, which helps cities create more effective and less costly programs for dealing with young offenders; the RFK Journalism and RFK Book Awards, which recognize authors who prod the public conscience and expose the problems of the dispossessed; and the RFK Center for Human Rights.

Chair of the Amnesty International Leadership Council, Kennedy Cuomo is a judge for the Reebok Human Rights Award and serves on the boards of Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the Bloody Sunday Trust. She is a member of the Massachusetts and District of Columbia bar associations.

Her visit at Denison is sponsored by the Campus Environmental Team, Student Activities, Women's Programs, Multicultural Affairs and Campus and Residential Life. In addition to her lecture, Kennedy Cuomo is scheduled to meet with Denison students from the international studies and political science departments for informal discussions.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575