Brennan LaBrie
News Editor
Students at Pacific Lutheran University are invited to attend the Wang Center’s 5th Biennial Ambassador Chris Stevens Celebration of Service on Tuesday, March 9. As in the past, this year’s event is centered around a contemporary global issue, in this case the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event is split into two virtual sessions. The first, from 12-1 p.m., is titled “Reflections on Community Health Service in Global Context” and features three PLU alumni who have served as Peace Corps Prep volunteers and who specialized in community health during their service.
The keynote presentation, from 7-8 p.m., will feature Amie Bishop, a global health and human rights consultant and Senior Advisor for the global LGBTIQ human rights organization Outright Action International. Her presentation is titled “Vulnerabilities Amplified: The Impact of COVID 19 on LGBTIQ+ Communities Globally.”
Ms. Bishop, who focuses on HIV, TB, women’s cancers and health access issues, has served in over 20 countries, such as Zambia and Ukraine. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer between 1983 and 1985 alongside Christopher Stevens, the former U.S. ambassador to Libya. This lecture series was named in Stevens’ honor in 2013 after he was killed in a raid on the U.S Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.
The lecture series seeks to “build knowledge in the PLU community about the peoples of the Middle East, North Africa and the United States and creative pathways to peace in the region,” according to PLU’s website, which adds that speakers selected for the series “embody the intelligence, adventurousness, vision, creativity, empathy, and kindness that characterized the Ambassador’s public service career.”
“We’re always encouraging students to continue to pursue global education even when you can’t leave your dorm room,” said Wang Center Office Assistant Sarah Calvin-Stupfel.
This event is definitely a good way to do that. Students can apply for the event at Chris Stevens | PLU
In other Wang Center news, the deadline to apply for summer 2021, fall 2021 and spring 2022 study away programs is March 15, and the J-Term 2022 deadline is April 15.
