Wheaton hosts Otis Social Justice Symposium

Writer and activist Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America, will be this year's recipient of the Wheaton Otis Social Justice Award. Ehrenreich will be on campus to receive the award and to participate in the college's annual Otis Social Justice Symposium on Thursday, February 21.

Wheaton inaugurated the Otis Social Justice Award and Symposium in 1990. The events of the symposium, now a full week long, bring the college community together to explore issues central to a just society: peace, world hunger, human rights and the protection of children. The event also honors the women and men who bring members of the community closer to compassionate action. These individuals receive the Otis Social Justice Award, which includes an honorarium that recipients may designate to the cause of their choice. Past recipients of the award have included former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, public school reform advocate Jonathan Kozol, feminist Gloria Steinem and Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman.

Highlights from this year's Otis Social Justice Symposium at Wheaton:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
The Miriam Lee Tropp Memorial Lecture brings prominent public figures to campus to speak on issues of public interest. Past speakers have included Attorney General Janet Reno, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, former New York Times columnist Tom Wicker and Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller.

Miriam Lee Tropp Memorial Lecture Panel: ''Can We Talk? Racial Identities and Conflicts''
Holman Room, Mary Lyon Hall, 4 p.m.

Miriam Lee Tropp Memorial Lecture : ''A Conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum.'' Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
Hindle Auditorium, Science Center, 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Otis Social Justice Panel: ''Intersections: Gender, Race and Class''
Holman Room, Mary Lyon Hall 4 p.m.

Otis Social Justice Lecture: ''Nickel and Dimed'' Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America. Hindle Auditorium 7:30 p.m.

The event of the Otis Social Justice Symposium are is open to the public without charge and the locations are wheelchair accessible. For further information, call the Office of Communications at 508-285-8235. For directions to Wheaton, go to www.wheatoncollege.edu/about/directions or call 508-286-5602.