Washington, D.C. – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will deliver the keynote address to 1000 college and university students at Campus Progress’s third annual National Student Conference, to be held Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Several events at the conference will address the Iraq war, reflecting growing student opposition to the Bush Administration’s conduct of the war. In addition to Speaker Pelosi, students at the conference will hear from Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a leading opponent of the war, from Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, from journalists Seymour Hersh and Asra Nomani, and from a closing panel of young Iraq war veterans.
Campus Progress is the youth organizing division of the Center for American Progress. The annual National Student Conference includes major speeches, panel discussions, and trainings on skills including working with media, organizing online, and building successful issue campaigns. Other speakers this year include former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle; public interest advocates Wade Henderson, Van Jones, Maria Teresa Petersen, John Prendergast, Jon Soltz, and Ralph Nader; blogger Jessica Valenti; and hip-hop artist M1 of Dead Prez. (Previous conference keynote speakers were Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.) Students from all 50 states and over 250 schools are registered to attend the conference.
Connecting with the focus on the Iraq war, the theme of this year’s conference is “Our Time is Now.” With young voters turning out in record numbers in 2004 and 2006, and with young advocates creating new vehicles for change every day, today’s young people have the power and the voice to move America in a more positive, progressive direction right now. “Our generation doesn’t have to wait to bring positive change on the issues, from war in Iraq to genocide in Sudan, from poverty in America to college affordability to global warming,” said Madhu Singh, conference coordinator for Campus Progress. “If we organize effectively now, we can make a real difference.”
The June 26 National Student Conference is bookended by two training days: a June 25 journalism conference, sponsored by Campus Progress and The Nation magazine, with speakers including Helen Thomas, Barbara Ehrenreich, Eric Schlosser, and Katrina vanden Heuvel; and a June 27 grassroots training, sponsored by Campus Progress, Wellstone Action, and the student PIRGs. In addition, Campus Progress and the United States Students Association have organized a June 25 student lobby day on the Iraq War.
To learn more about the conference, visit http://www.campusprogress.org/2007conference.
To learn more about Campus Progress, visit http://www.campusprogress.org.
Campus Progress, part of the Center for American Progress, works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, and artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Through an on-line magazine and student publications, public events, and grassroots issue campaigns, Campus Progress acts to empower new progressive leaders as they develop fresh ideas and communicate in new ways. The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan progressive think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action.