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Dateline: 4/21/2007

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

Wallis to Speak April 30 on Creating Common Ground

Best-selling author Jim Wallis will speak to Gonzaga University students, faculty and staff on “Fundamental Differences, Common Concerns” at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 30, in the Cataldo Hall Globe Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Author, Speaker Jim Wallis
Best-selling author Jim Wallis
Organizers ask members of the Gonzaga community to arrive early, at 6:45 p.m., to assure seating; the public may enter at 7:15 p.m.

Wallis will discuss ways that people with differing and even opposing ideologies can collaborate to form common ground and, in so doing, change the world. It’s the first lecture sponsored by the Gonzaga Coexist Student Coalition, which aims to increase understanding between students involved in ideologically disparate clubs and provide a safe forum for which all campus clubs to speak, among other goals.

Wallis, author of The New York Times best seller “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It,” is founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Sojourners/Call to Renewal, where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners Magazine. A writer, theologian, preacher and activist, Wallis convenes a national network of churches, faith-based organizations, and individuals working to overcome poverty in America. He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including National Public Radio and The O’Reilly Factor; his columns have appeared in many newspapers, including The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

GU sophomore Chris Sparks and Student Activities Coordinator Anna Gonzales formed the Coexist Student Coalition in response to the divide they saw deepening between ideologically different clubs on campus.

Coexist has sponsored two events so far. The first was an airing of positions in which members from all participating club discussed their clubs and described the clubs’ experiences at Gonzaga. The second event was a question-and-answer session designed to foster understanding. Coexist also sponsors a “Know Your Neighbor” program in which club members meet to get to know one another as individuals instead of labeling others based solely on ideologies. A question-and-answer period and book signing will immediately follow the presentation.

For more information, contact Gonzales via e-mail or at (509) 323-4069.