BRISTOL – On April 20, New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof will speak at Roger Williams University as part of the President’s Distinguished Speakers Series. His talk, “Moral Obligations and National Interest: Refugees in the 21st Century,” will concentrate on historical examples of xenophobia in the United States.
“As the son of a refugee, I think we have a moral obligation to try to help at the margins,” Kristof said in a quote reprinted by the release. “And I also think, ultimately, immigration strengthens us as a country. There are challenges, and there can be disruptions. But I think we should be a little less vilifying and a little more welcoming.”
Kristof won his Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Tiananmen Square and the genocide in Darfur. He has held his position with the New York Times since 2001, after a time as a foreign correspondent with the publication. He grew up on a farm in Oregon, graduated from Harvard and studied law at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
In its seventh year, the President’s Distinguished Speakers Series is exploring the global refugee crisis in a yearlong program it calls “The Quest for Refuge.”
“Kristof takes on issues of social justice here in America and around the world,” said RWU President Donald J. Farish in prepared remarks. “He tells it as he sees it and has developed a huge and loyal family of regular readers of his column in The New York Times. We are very pleased to be able to bring him to Rhode Island to speak to our students and our friends in the broader community.”
The April 20 event is free and open to the public. The talk will take place on RWU’s Bristol campus in the Campus Recreation Center Gymnasium at 7 p.m. A book signing will follow.
For more information and resources related to “The Quest for Refuge” series, visit rwu.libguides.com/QuestForRefuge/.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a PBN staff writer.
