On Wednesday, November 1, Anthony D. Romero visited MMC as the 2017 Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar. He delivered an informative lecture, titled, Rights and Liberties in America Today. Students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in the Theresa Lang Theatre to hear Romero’s influential speech.
Romero presented an overview of the work the ACLU has accomplished over the past year, highlighting the amount of change the last twelve months have brought to our country. He noted that the ACLU has seen a marked increase in highly active new members motivated to create a unique platform for citizen activism. In addition to speaking passionately about activism and community involvement, Romero stressed the importance of citizens engaging in open conversations with one another, which, he believes, results in measurable progress and increased understanding. He also emphasized the need for dialogue across all political parties in order to reach a place where we can thrive harmoniously.
As the lecture concluded, Romero left the audience with valuable words of wisdom to consider in our day-to-day lives: if keep our focus and engagement on the important political issues, we will most certainly not fail.
ABOUT ANTHONY ROMERO
Anthony D. Romero is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the nation’s premier defender of liberty and individual freedom. An attorney with a history of public-interest activism, Romero has presided over the most successful membership growth in the ACLU’s history and a large increase in national and affiliate staff. This extraordinary growth has allowed the ACLU to expand its nationwide litigation, lobbying, advocacy, and public education programs.
Under Romero’s watch, the ACLU launched its national “Keep America Safe and Free” campaign to protect basic freedoms during a time of crisis; launched its unique legal challenge to the patents held by a private company on the human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer; launched litigation and lobbying efforts to win the freedom to marry for same-sex couples; and filed the first lawsuit against President Trump’s Muslim Ban.
ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES
Generous support of The Jack and Lewis Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program is provided by The Rudin Foundation, Inc. The program builds upon Marymount Manhattan College’s commitment to academic excellence and its distinctive undergraduate programs in the liberal arts.
Though MMC has been the sole degree-granting institution for the college program at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, New York, since 1997, this year holds special meaning for the relationship: September marks the 20th anniversary of when the program was officially deemed anextension campus of MMC. We’ll be celebrating and sharing the stories of Bedford Hills students and alums, like Monica Szlekovics ’09, all year long.
