Author, activist Cornel West to speak as part of Justice Education Month events

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Author, social justice advocate and presidential candidate Cornel West will deliver a public lecture on Penn State’s University Park campus at 5 p.m. April 23 in Freeman Auditorium in the HUB-Robeson Center.

The event is co-sponsored by the College of Education’s Restorative Justice Institute (RJI), the Student's Restorative Justice Initiative, the Graduate School’s Office of Graduate Educational Equity Programs, the Paul Robeson Cultural Center and the University Park Allocation Committee. The event is free and open to the community, and advance registration is required.

West's talk is titled “Beyond Incarceration: Education, Activism and Social Justice in PA [Pennsylvania].” The event aims to deepen the understanding of challenges faced by marginalized communities, particularly African Americans, and promote the power of education and activism in addressing systemic issues.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring Dr. West to campus for this important conversation,” said Efrain Marimon, director of the Restorative Justice Initiative. “We hope that his expertise will inspire attendees to engage in meaningful dialogue and advocacy for a fairer society.”

The event caps off RJI’s third-annual Justice Education Month activities, which also include a career fair and tech drive for previously incarcerated individuals and a screening and panel discussion for the movie "College Behind Bars."

West, who is running as an independent in the 2024 presidential election, is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. West also is the former professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University and professor emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy at Princeton. He has written 20 books and edited 13 others.

For more information about the event, contact Marimon at eam5761@psu.edu.

Editor's note: This event does not constitute an endorsement of this candidate or any other candidate for political office.