UR to host nationally renowned guests for speaker series focusing on free speech, immigration and identity

August 23, 2017

The University of Richmond is celebrating its commitment to advancing dialogue on topics crucial to the nation and global society with the 2017-18 Sharp Viewpoint Speaker Series. President Ronald A. Crutcher will engage prominent thought leaders in unique and different perspectives on the issues of our time.

The series includes:

  • Sept. 6: “Forum on Freedom of Expression.” Jeffrey Herbst, president and CEO of the Newseum
  • Oct. 11: “A Conversation with Gubernatorial Candidates.” Gubernatorial Republican nominee Ed Gillespie and Democrat nominee Ralph Northam.
  • Nov. 14: “Identity in a Changing America.” Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, acclaimed filmmaker and immigration advocate.
  • March 22, 2018: “Perspectives on Immigration.” Karl Rove, iconic political strategist and former deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush.

Jeffrey Herbst is president and CEO of the Newseum and the Newseum Institute. From 2010-2015, he was president of Colgate University. Previously he served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio. For 18 years he taught at Princeton University, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree. He earned a master’s degree and doctorate from Yale University. He is the author of the award-winning “States and Power in Africa” and, with co-author Greg Mills, “Africa’s third Liberation,” as well as the recently published “How South Africa Works and Must Do Better.”

Ed Gillespie is a business owner, longtime conservative leader and a Republican candidate for governor in 2017. The son of an Irish immigrant, Ed started his career as a Senate parking lot attendant and eventually worked his way up to become counselor to President George W. Bush. He is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia and the Republican National Committee. In 2004 he was the first GOP chairman in 80 years to preside over a party that won the White House, House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. He was general chairman of Bob McDonnell’s highly successful campaign for governor in 2009.

Ralph Northam is currently serving as the lieutenant governor of Virginia. He has served as an Army doctor and business owner. He is a pediatric neurologist, and for 18 years he has volunteered as medical director for the Edmarc Hospice for Children in Portsmouth, where he cares for terminally ill children. He chairs the Commonwealth Council on Childhood Success and the Governor’s Task Force on Improving Mental Health Services and Crisis Response.

Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, acclaimed filmmaker and immigration advocate whose work centers on the changing American identity. He is the founder and CEO of Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration and citizenship in America. He also founded #EmergingUS, a multimedia news platform that focuses on race, immigration and the complexities of multiculturalism. In June 2011, The New York Times Magazine published a groundbreaking essay he wrote in which he revealed and chronicles his life in America as an undocumented immigrant.

Karl Rove is an iconic political strategist and sought-after political pundit. He served as senior advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000-2007 and deputy chief of staff from 2004-2007. He writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal and appears frequently on Fox News. He has been called a “master political strategist” by The Washington Post columnist David Broder and “the greatest political mind of his generation,” by Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard. He is the author of "Courage and Consequence” and “The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1886 Still Matters.”

All events are free and open to the public. Ticket registration is required. For more event information or to reserve your seats, visit richmond.edu/sharp or call 804-289-8980.

The Richard L. Sharp Viewpoint Speakers Series was established in 2011 in honor of Richard L. Sharp, a nationally recognized entrepreneur, to present competing views on topics crucial to our nation and global society.

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Note: Arrangements for the appearance of Jose Antonio Vargas made through Greater Talent Network, Inc., New York, New York.