Author Rebecca Walker to speak at Goshen College on race and gender Oct. 8

GOSHEN, Ind. – Rebecca Walker, the author of the international bestseller Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self and the daughter of author Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple), will speak at Goshen College about "Privileges of Race and Gender" on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Walker grew up in New York and San Francisco and graduated with honors from Yale University. She is the editor of What Makes a Man: 22 Writers Imagine The Future (Riverhead Books) and To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Anchor/Doubleday), which has been in print for 10 years and is required reading in universities throughout America and abroad.

In 1997 Walker co-founded the Third Wave Foundation, the only national, philanthropic organization for women aged 15 to 30. For her leadership, Walker has received the NOW Intrepid Award, the Paz y Justicia Award from Vanguard, the Champion of Choice Award from CARAL and the Women Who Could Be President Award from the League of Women Voters, among others. When she was 25, Time Magazine named Walker one of 50 future leaders of America. She is the recipient of the Alex Award from the American Library Association, and fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. She currently hosts a series on new masculinity on Pacifica Radio, and in 1997 made her acting debut in Primary Colors, a Mike Nichols film.

Walker is at the college as the keynote speaker for the Plowshares Project student peace conference, “In Solidarity: Engaging Empire in Activism, Education and Community Strategies.”

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu/.