Leaders at DPU for Discourse on current issues

Several prominent national leaders and thinkers will be on the DePauw University campus this week for a symposium on current issues.

Among the speakers coming together for DePauw Discourse 2006 on Thursday and Friday will be U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings; President Bush's chief economic adviser Allan Hubbard; Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the Iraq Study Group and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission; and Pulitzer Prize-winner Taylor Branch.

The programs will provide alumni, students, faculty and all community members with the opportunity to engage notable government leaders, public servants, authors and journalists in getting to the heart of some of the most pressing issues facing the nation ahead of the November election.

The third annual symposium is hosted by the Washington C. DePauw Society. All sessions are open and free to the public.

Other alumni and guest panelists and moderators will include:

* Ken Bode, Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism, DePauw University.

* Bob Herbert, the New York Times op-ed columnist.

* John McWethy, 1969 DePauw graduate, former ABC News chief national security correspondent

* Bob Steele, 1969 DePauw graduate, Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values at the Poynter Institute.

For times and locations of the sessions, go online to www.depauw.edu.

"In bringing nationally renowned figures to campus, DePauw Discourse continues to provide a valuable opportunity to explore relevant issues, participate in stimulating discourse and discover points of view not readily available through the media or our everyday lives," says Joyce Taglauer Green, a 1975 DePauw graduate, chair of DePauw Discourse and member of the Washington C. DePauw Society Executive Committee that hosts the event. "I am pleased to see this tradition taking hold on the DePauw campus, allowing alumni to join students and faculty members in substantive participation in the life of the University."

As assistant to the president for domestic policy during President George W. Bush's first term, Spellings was instrumental in crafting education policies, including the No Child Left Behind Act. She also helped develop other White House positions, including those regarding immigration, health, labor, transportation, and justice. As Secretary of Education, Spellings recently appointed a Commission on the Future of Higher Education that will focus on the administration of federal student aid and the accreditation of colleges.

Hamilton is the co-chair of the Iraq Study Group. The independent panel (that also includes Vernon Jordan, a 1957 DePauw graduate) was established at the urging of Congress to study the Iraq war and make policy recommendations to Capitol Hill and the White House. Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., Hamilton was recently elected (along with others including former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush) as a 2006 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his leadership of the 9/11 Commission. Hamilton's DePauw Discourse 2006 conversation will be moderated by McWethy, a five-time national Emmy Award-winning reporter and former ABC News chief national security correspondent.

Hubbard is the assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council (NEC).

New York Times op-ed columnist Herbert served as a national correspondent for NBC, editor and reporter for the Daily News, and panelist and host for weekly public issues discussion programs on New York television.

Pulitzer Prize-winning and best-selling author Branch is a national authority on America's civil rights movement. His most recent book, At Canaan's Edge, concludes "America in the King Years," a three-volume history of American race, violence and democracy.

Steele will return to his alma mater for DePauw Discourse. Steele has stayed closely connected to newsrooms through his real-time coaching of journalists, news managers, editors and media leaders on ethics and values issues, and by leading ethics and critical-thinking workshops for more than 75 newspapers, television stations, and newspaper and broadcast groups.