Former presidential speech writer George Gilder, Producer of CBS's "60 Minutes" David Gelber and international peace activist William Sloane Coffin are three of the six speakers at this year's Senior Symposium.
The theme of this year's Senior Symposium -- "The Turning Point: To the Edge and Beyond" -- focuses on the atmosphere of change with the upcoming millennium.
"We chose people who changed their industries and made a difference in changing the way people think about their industries," said Willy Wong '99, one of the organizers of the event. "We wanted people with a story to tell and to be an inspiration to the audience."
Gilder, economist and former presidential speech writer is slated to be the Symposium's first speaker. He will deliver a speech titled "Why Technology Is Green and Ecology Isn't" this Friday.
Karen Narasaki, Executive Directive of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, will be speaking on "Reinventing Social Landscapes" on April 10.
A panel of Dartmouth seniors involved in theater, drama, and cartooning will present the Seniors' Symposium, "Experiences in the Arts: From Theater to Cartoons" on April 15 at the Casque and Gauntlet senior society.
Gelber, executive producer for CBS' "60 Minutes," will be speaking on "The Changing Face of Media" on April 17.
On April 20, Coffin, an international peace activist and former Montgomery Fellow, will be speaking on "What About War? Is a Warless World Possible?"
The Symposium effort began last spring with discussions of previous symposiums and brainstorming for ideas on potential themes and speakers. Organizers then mounted a letter writing campaign to about 40 to 50 possible speakers and followed up with phone calls.
The Symposium's sponsors include the Bildner Endowment, the Class of 1999, Committee on Student Organizations, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, The Hewlett Presidential Venture Fund, Pan Asian Council, and the Thayer School of Engineering.
