Sen. John Kerry P'02, D-Mass., will speak this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Salomon 101 as the third speaker in the Governor Frank Licht '38 Lecture Series. The 2004 Democratic presidential candidate's speech will be simulcast in Salomon 001 and is free and open to the public.
Kerry's speech is titled "An Afternoon With John Kerry," and he plans to address "national and international issues," according to Darrell West, professor of political science and director of the Taubman Center, though Kerry "hasn't been more specific than that." West said he expects Kerry to address Hurricane Katrina and John Roberts' nomination as chief justice of the United States.
Since losing the 2004 presidential race, Kerry has kept a lower media profile, making local appearances to campaign for state-level candidates and working as a spokesman for the Democrats at fundraisers. On Thursday, he delivered his party's rebuttal to Bush's nationally televised address on disaster relief for victims of the hurricane.
Because Kerry's oldest daughter, Alexandra Kerry '02, is an alum, organizing his appearance at Brown was simply a matter of calling the senator's office and arranging a convenient time for him to come, West said.
"He knew who we were," West added.
The Licht lecture series, sponsored by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, was established in 2004 with a gift from the family of Frank Licht.
Licht graduated as valedictorian of Brown's Class of 1938 and was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1968, serving two terms as the state's chief executive.
Previous Licht lecturers include Howard Fineman, chief political correspondent and columnist for Newsweek magazine, and David Broder, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and national correspondent for the Washington Post.
"We look for a leading figure in an area of public interest - politicians, journalists, anyone who will speak out on the issues," West said.
