Our Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM: Gardner-Webb University

BOILING SPRINGS, NC - Gardner-Webb University announces its Fall Forum 2005. This year’s Forum is entitled “The History of the American Abortion Debate: Where to from Here?” The Keynote Address will be held on 15 November 2005 at 7:00 p.m in the Dover Theatre. The Fall Forum, which is a part of GWU’s Life of the Scholar program, will be of “interest to many people in our community,” comments Dr. Chad Raymond, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Gardner-Webb. “With two positions on the Supreme Court in flux under a conservative Republican President, we could very well see a shift that would allow the Court to revisit Roe versus Wade. We would like to be prepared to understand and participate in this debate as it unfolds.”

The keynote speaker for the Fall Forum is Michael J. Gerhardt from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Gerhardt is the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at UNC, coordinates the Center on Law and Government, and teaches classes on bioethics, constitutional law, the legislative process, and Congress and the Presidency. “Prof. Gerhardt was a logical choice for our keynote address,” comments Scot Lahaie, Director of Theater at Gardner-Webb, “He has an outstanding academic record and is widely published on topics related to constitutional law.” Indeed, Gerhardt is the author of several books, including the second editions of The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis (University of Chicago Press) and The Federal Appointments Process (Duke University Press), and has written more than fifty law review articles on different topics in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and the legislative process.

Also on the panel for this event are Joe Collins, Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Gardner-Webb, and Kent Blevins, Professor of Ethics at Gardner-Webb. These two professors will respond in turn to Dr. Gerhardt’s comments, placing them in larger perspective and challenging many of his assumptions. “It is the nature of the event,” comments Professor Bob Carey, Chair of the Department of Communication Studies. “We are an academic community, and we learn from debate. It is part of the process.” Although Dr. Gerhardt will speak for more than three-quarters of an hour, the responders will limit their comments to about fifteen minutes each.

Scot Lahaie, Director of Theater at Gardner-Webb, first suggested the topic of this year’s Forum. Professor Lahaie, who is also a playwright, will be producing one of his own dramas in November. The play, which is entitled Purging Mary, is “a serious dialectical drama about abortion and its impact upon the Christian community,” according to the theater’s own press release. The keynote address is a scholarly component for the Forum, while Lahaie’s play is an artistic component. “Each deal with the subject of abortion, but in different terms,” comments Christopher Keene, Technical Director for the University Theater. “We are excited to play a part in the larger academic mission of the university.” Purging Mary will perform 16 - 19 November at 7:30 PM and on 20 November at 2:30 PM. Reservations are recommended.

The public is welcome to attend this event, which is free of charge. Seating is available on a first come, first serve basis. A reception will follow the Tuesday evening event.