The Great Issues Committee urges students to think beyond the daily troubles of a university student and to direct concern toward the social justice issues that plague the world today by inviting guest speakers to lecture to the Saint Louis University community.
Investigative reporter Chris Hansen of Dateline NBC will be speaking at 7 p.m. on Sept. 15 in the Saint Louis Room at the Bush Student Center.
Tickets for the lecture are available in BSC 319.
“Hansen will be speaking on journalism, social justice, and how it relates to the Saint Louis University mission,” said GIC President Colin Shevlin.
Hansen’s work has taken him all over the globe and he has earned seven Emmy awards for investigative reporting.
His news series investigating aviation security was recognized with four Edward R. Murrow awards, and the Associated Press has bestowed upon him an award of excellence in journalism.
Student David Gaillardetz is a social work major and interested in journalism as a channel for social justice.
“I think it’s really interesting how you can use other avenues like journalism to accomplish for the greater good,” Gaillardetz said.
The GIC has also arranged for author Eboo Patel of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, to speak to the SLU community on Oct. 14 about religious pluralism.
The GIC’s dedication to social justice issues and garnering student debate will bring about more significant speakers throughout the year, and all members of the SLU are welcome to listen and discuss.
Shevlin has been a member of the committee for three years and underwent a lengthy interview process to gain his current position.
The committee, which gathers Mondays at 9 p.m. in the Busch Student Center Senate Chambers, is made up of 18 individuals who, like Shevlin, went through an application process.
“All meetings are open to the public,” Shevlin said, and also added that speaker suggestions often come from outside the committee.
When choosing a speaker, the committee debates and discusses each valid suggestion, and voting determines three finalists.
Scheduling and availability then determine the final speaker.
The committee first began developing in the mid-1960s, and was originally funded by an independent group of students who sold tickets to provide the University with guest lecturers.
The success of the lectures led to an initial funding of $10,000 from the Student Activities Board in the early 1970s, and the group was renamed The Great Issues Committee.
Today the GIC is funded with an annual budget of $134,000, which subsidizes the cost and promotion of issues and guest speakers.
Past speakers include Elie Wiesel and Sister Helen Prejean.
According to the group’s mission statement, “The Great Issues Committee strives to stimulate insightful, provocative debate on current issues that will inform and educate as a service to the Saint Louis University community.”
