By Joan C. McKinney, director of university communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky.— Campbellsville University’s Kentucky Heartland Institute on Public Policy (KHIPP) will discuss the Holocaust, political parties and elections of 2007-08; and evangelical perspectives on public policy issues confronting our nation during the fall 2007-08 academic year.
John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations and executive assistant to the president, said the sessions in September and October are “very informational” and “offer dignified and knowledgeable speakers” from all parts of the country.
Chowning, who founded KHIPP, said, “Campbellsville University has established the institute that primarily focuses focus its attention on facilitating public policy study and issues debate, while encouraging the involvement of Christian leaders in the public and civic arenas.
“A wide range of public issues will be studied and presented by the institute for the purposes of engaging Campbellsville University students, faculty and staff, and the general public, in a greater awareness and understanding of the myriad issues confronting our culture,” he said.
Chowning said KHIPP is “committed to preparing Christian civic and political leaders for the 21st century.”
He said, “A greater awareness of the public policy process and understanding of the numerous issues being debated in our nation is essential for the citizenry as a whole.”
The three sessions in the fall will be Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 17-18; Tuesday, Oct. 8, and Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 30-31, all in the Little Auditorium in the Student Union Building on campus, except for Oct. 31’s session which will in the Ransdell Chapel.
“Causes and Lessons of the Holocaust” will be led by Victoria Barnett, staff director of church relations at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17.
Barnett is also an author of several books and one of the general editors of the “Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works,” the English translation series of Bonhoeffer’s complete works being published by Fortress Press.
The session is at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17, and Barnett will also speak in area schools and to CU classes on Sept. 18. Her visit is sponsored in part by a Marvin and Joyce Benjamin Fund grant CU received from the Hardin County Community Foundation. The Benjamin Fund was created by the couple to help fight the problems of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism.
A panel of political leaders in the Commonwealth of Kentucky will lead a discussion on “Political Parties and Elections 2007-2008” at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Invited guests include: Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky; Lowell Reese, founder of The Kentucky Roll Call Inc., a Frankfort-based governmental affairs publishing company and “The Kentucky Gazette”; and Ron Ellis, political writer for the CHNI News Service in Frankfort, Ky.
“Evangelical Christian Perspectives on Public Policy Issues Confronting Our Nation” will be discussed Tuesday, Oct. 30 and Wednesday, Oct. 31.
The discussion will feature Dr. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs with the National Association of Evangelicals in Washington, D.C.
His primary responsibilities include editing publications such as NAE Washington Insight, directing NAE’s Washington Insight Briefing and Christian Student Leadership Conferences and setting its policy direction on issues before Congress, the White House and Supreme Court.
The Oct. 30 session is at 5 p.m. and will specifically address the topic of “For the Health of the Nation – An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.”
Cizik will also be speaking at CU’s convocation/chapel Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. discussing the subject of “Creation Care – Concerns on Global Warming and Climate Change.” The convocation/chapel is in the Ransdell Chapel and is part of CU’s “Earth Stewardship Series.”
All events are free and open to the public.
Anyone requesting more information about the events, can contact Chowning at (270) 789-5520.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,310 students who represent 100 Kentucky counties, 32 states and 28 foreign nations. Listed in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” 14 consecutive years as one of the leading Southern master’s colleges and universities, Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his ninth year as president.