Local high school and law students debate international human rights in November

Contact Brandi Palmer
Communications Specialist
727-562-7381

Gulfport, Fla. – Students from Lakewood High School and Stetson University College of Law will debate international human rights policies Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Stetson University College of Law Gulfport campus, 1401 61st St. S.

The debate entitled “Working Together for the World: What’s in it for the U.S.?” is open to the public and invites community discussion during an open microphone session.

Patricia Gomez, assistant director of international programs at Stetson Law, will host the debate and Darden Rice, who represents the League of Women Voters, will moderate. Birgit Van Hout, executive director of Community Tampa Bay, and Dr. Susan Zucker, director of technology and distance education for the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson Law, will provide the program’s keynotes. Lakewood High School students MacKenzie Deck and Niraj Singh will discuss whether the U.S. should work towards international compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Stetson Law students Gyula Szilagyi and Ahmad Yakzan will discuss presidential power to overrule the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights during threats to national security.

The event, a local effort of the national “The People Speak” campaign to facilitate discussion of international issues, has traditionally attracted an average of 100 people annually to the law school campus.

Another The People Speak event at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1200 Snell Isle Blvd. N.E. in St. Petersburg, features Stetson Law Professor Michael Allen presenting “(In)Security in America through the Lens of Immigration: The Importance of the Salad Bowl.”

The People Speak was created in 2003 by the United Nations Foundation and a nonpartisan group of concerned organizations to provide forums for Americans to participate in policy discussions. The People Speak sponsored thousands of such grassroots events and hosted dozens of signature events with ABC News since its inception in 2003.

For more information about The People Speak, please visit:
http://www.thepeoplespeak.org.