FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2005  
Contact: Jerri Gent
814-676-6591, Ext. 1215

Internationally-known Humanitarian to Speak at Clarion University–Venango Campus

OIL CITY, PA – Jerry White, co-founder and executive director of Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), an international organization based in Washington, DC, with offices in several mine-affected countries, will be a guest speaker at Clarion University–Venango Campus on Tuesday, February 1, 2005. The event, free and open to the public, will be held at 7 PM in the campus’s Robert W. Rhoades Student Center Gymnasium and will be followed by a dessert reception.

Pictured to the right: Jerry and the Princess of Wales on her first day in country, looking over a minefield and demining activities in Tuzla, Bosnia, 1997

“We’re delighted to bring Mr. White to our community,” said Dr. Christopher M. Reber, executive dean of Venango Campus, “and are very grateful to his good friend, Mrs. Helen Boyle, for making his visit possible. We hope this is the first of many programs of this caliber that Venango
Campus will be able to host in the future.”

Mr. White, himself a landmine survivor, has a world-wide reputation for his humanitarian and service work. The late Princess Diana, Queen Noor of Jordan, Sir Paul and Lady Heather Mills McCartney and former Clinton press secretary DeeDee Myers are among the many people who have supported the efforts of LSN. Created by and for survivors, LSN advocates a ban on landmines and develops amputee support programs around the world that are designed to promote comprehensive rehabilitation through an integrated system of peer counseling, sports, and social and economic reintegration.

A graduate of Brown University, Mr. White was camping in Israel when he stepped on a landmine in 1984. He worked at the Brookings Institution and the Natural Resources Defense Council prior to becoming Assistant Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. For the past 15 years, Mr. White has worked to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as landmines.

Mr. White has appeared and published extensively in the media, testified before Congress and the United Nations, and received several awards in recognition of his humanitarian and human rights leadership. These include the 2001 Paul G. Hearne/American Association of People with Disabilities Leadership Award; The 2000 Mohammed Amin Humanitarian Award; Brown University's 2000 William Rogers Alumni Award; The Center for International Rehabilitation's Leadership Award in 1999; and the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace Awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Clarion University–Venango Campus provides high-quality educational programs and personalized services to help students succeed. Students can earn an associate degree, a bachelor’s or master’s degree in select areas, obtain a one-year certificate or participate in a variety of professional development and personal enrichment courses. The campus is home to Clarion University’s School of Nursing and Allied Health and its Department of Applied Technology. Clarion University–Venango Campus is committed to serving the needs of the community.

Fore more information, contact Jerri Gent, Director of Marketing and University Relations, at 676-6591, ext. 1215.

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