Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lecture Tickets on Sale, Sept. 5

Clarke College President Joanne M. Burrows, SC, Ph.D. recently announced that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be the featured speaker in this year’s Mackin-Mailander Lecture Series on Tuesday, Oct. 17. Tickets sales will being on Tuesday, September 5. Cost is $15 for adults and $5 for students. Reservations can be made on-line at  www.clarke.edu/mackin-mailander, by calling (563)584-8642, or at the Clarke College Whitlow Bookstore. Kennedy’s books will also be available for sale in Clarke’s bookstore.

Kennedy will present “Crimes Against Nature” on Tuesday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert and Ruth Kehl Center on the Clarke campus. The theme of this year’s series is “The Relationship Between the Environment and Humanity.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. Kennedy was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 125 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe.

Kennedy serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace College School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of “Ring of Fire” on Air America Radio. Earlier in his career he served as assistant district attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns including the presidential campaigns of Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City’s water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress.

Among Kennedy’s published books are the New York Times’ bestseller “Crimes Against Nature” (2004), “The Riverkeepers” (1997), and “Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr.: A Biography” (1977). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside Magazine, The Village Voice, and many other publications. His award winning articles have been included in anthologies of “America’s Best Crime Writing,” “Best Political Writing” and “Best Science Writing.”

Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard College. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the College of Virginia Law School. Following graduation, he attended Pace College School of Law, where he was awarded a master’s degree in environmental law.

The Mackin-Mailander Lecture Series was established in the spring of 1997 after Clarke received gifts from two alums, Mary Mackin ’34 and Verna Slattery-Mailander ’20, to establish an endowed lecture series. The annual series consists of three lectures, including a prominent outside speaker, a faculty lecture and an alum lecture.