Our Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM: Gardner-Webb University

BOILING SPRINGS, NC - Gardner-Webb University announces its Fall Forum. This year's Forum is entitled "Christian Perspectives on the Right to Die" and will be held on 18 November 2003 at 7:00 p.m. The theme of this Forum, which is a part of GWU's Life of the Scholar program, will be of "special interest to pastors and clergy in the region, as well as the medical community," comments Dr. Doug Dickens, Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Gardner-Webb. The university is reaching out to the professional community this year with hopes of providing a positive and instructive conversation about issues that effect clergy and health care professionals in a very real way.

The keynote speaker for the Fall Forum is Dr. Paul D. Simmons, Clinical Professor at the University of Louisville's School of Medicine. Dr. Simmons also holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Philosophy in the same university, where he teaches courses in Medical Ethics, Business Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, and Human Rights. "Dr. Simmons 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 medical ethics; he is also an ordained Baptist minister." Professor Simmons, who is also the Director of The Center for Ethics: Ministry, Business and Medicine, has a special interest in the intersections of religion and science, and of ethics and public policy. According to his own statement, his method "brings biblical, theological and philosophical perspectives into conversation with scientific and legal dimensions of particular problems." Previously, Simmons was professor of Christian Ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and served as Director of the Clarence Jordan Center for Christian Ethical Concerns.

Also on the panel for this event are Doug Dickens, Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Gardner-Webb's M. Christopher White School of Divinity and Kent Blevins, Professor of Ethics at Gardner-Webb. These two professors will respond in turn to Dr. Simmons comments, placing them in larger perspective and challenging many of his assumptions. "It is the nature of the event," comments Dr. Dickens. "We are an academic community, and we learn from debate. It is part of the process." Although Dr. Simmons 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 years Forum. Professor Lahaie, who is also a playwright, will be producing one of his own dramas in November. The play, which is entitled Dogfall, is "a serious dialectical drama about doctor-assisted suicide and the right to die movement," according to the theater's own press release. The keynote address is a scholarly component for the Forum, while Lahaie's play Dogfall is an artistic component. "Each deal with the subject--the right to die--but in different terms," comments Christopher Keene, Technical Director for the University Theater. "This is a first for our theater program. We are excited to play a part in the larger academic mission of the university." Dogfall will perform 19 - 22 November at 7:30 PM and on 23 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.