The Class of 1994 will discuss youth activism when it presents the 16th annual senior symposium titled "Who Cares? Changing Apathy to Activism with Generation X," which will run from Thursday, April 7 through Saturday, April 9.
The symposium will feature a series of panels and speeches that will examine the role of artists, corporate leaders, educators, the media, health-care professionals and public servants in fostering activism in society.
"Our goal is to demonstrate how public service can be integrated into all career choices," said Julie Lane '94, co-chair of the committee that organized the event.
Timothy Martin '94, the other co-chair, could not be reached for comment.
The senior symposium was established in 1978 as a parting educational and intellectual gift to the College from the senior class.
All the events will be held in the Collis Common Ground and are free and open to the public.
Preparations for the symposium began last spring with a discussion of the topic, and most of the work was done by a small committee of students last spring and winter.
Committee members looked for a topic that would be applicable to seniors. "We wanted to focus on the positive and what our age group ... can do to deal with some of the problems," Lane said. "We hoped to get and we did get a lot of speakers that are in our generation."
The label "Generation X" came from the popular novel by Douglas Copeland of the same title.
Lane said the title was appropriate because "There isn't [only] one thing defining our generation at all."
The symposium will open Thursday with three panel discussions.
Morningstar Foundation President Suzanne Harjo will highlight an 11:30 a.m. discussion titled "Performance Artists: Using Imagery to Raise Consciousness."
A group of corporate leaders and Amos Tuck School students will make up the 2 p.m. panel titled "Corporate Leaders: Reconciling Profit with Public Service."
"Educators: Establishing Education Equity," is the title of the 4 p.m. panel that will include Teach for America President Daniel Porter.
Later Thursday night, Boston University President John Silber will deliver the day's keynote address, "Universities: Integrating Campus with Community," at 7:30.
Friday's events will include two more panel discussions: "Artists: Art as a Vehicle for Activism," at 2 p.m., which will feature Jude Narita, the current artist-in-residence; and "The Printed Media: Chronicling Social Change." This 4 p.m. panel will include Vanity Fair publisher Kathy Neisloss Leventhal and "Who Cares" editor Chole Breyer.
Friday's keynote addresses will be by Queer Nation co-founder Michelangelo Signorile and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Stacy Kabat. The topic of the 7 p.m. speeches will be "The Power of the Individual."
Kabat will show her film "Defending Our Lives," which won the 1994 Academy Award for best documentary film, after her speech.
Registration for the Tucker Foundation's annual Hunger Cleanup will kick off Saturday's events at 9 a.m.
Saturday's panel discussions begin with "Health-care Professionals: Reinventing the Hip-pocratic Oath," at 2 p.m. and will feature ABC television medical correspondent Dr. Timothy Johnson. The 4 p.m. panel is titled "Public Servants: Representing Responsibility."
The symposium will conclude with a Saturday night dinner discussion, "Dartmouth Students: Who Will Care?" at 7 p.m. A video of interviews with seniors about public service will also be shown.
The symposium is sponsored by the Council on Student Organizations, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences, the McSpadden Public Issues Forum, the Tucker Foundation, the Spanish and Portuguese department, the Dean of the College Office, the Office of Student Life and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration.
