Two events featuring prominent political figures will be hosted at Boston College next week: One will bring Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the other will be a lecture and discussion with U.S. Senator Ed Markey.
The Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics will host Power’s event on Thursday, March 22 at 4 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m., in the Heights Room in Lower. Invited as part of the Women’s History Month celebration, Power is the youngest-ever ambassador to the U.N. and has been named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People.” She served as U.N. ambassador from 2013 to 2017.
In her tenure as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Power was responsible for acting as the public face to U.S. opposition to Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria, and she negotiated “the toughest sanctions in a generation against North Korea,” according to her biography on the Harvard Law School website. She also served on the National Security Council as special assistant to the president and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights from 2009 to 2013. In this capacity, she focused on ensuring the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and women, the promotion of religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities, atrocity prevention, the prevention of human trafficking, and U.N. reform.
Power graduated from Yale University in 1992 and Harvard Law School in 1999, where she is currently a professor of the practice.
The College Democrats of Boston College (CDBC) will host the town hall event with Markey on Sunday, March 25 at 3:30 p.m. in Devlin 008. The event is free and open to the public, and seating will be based on a first-come first-served basis when the doors open at 3 p.m. Markey will discuss current issues and events in politics before having an open floor session during which audience members will be encouraged to ask questions.
A Double Eagle, Markey has gone on to become a Massachusetts state representative, a member of the House of Representatives, and a U.S. senator since graduating from BC in 1968 and BC Law in 1972. He presented a new proposal on Monday, March 12, that would offer an incentive to states that adopt gun laws modeled after the get-tough laws in Massachusetts, which include granting police the power to approve and revoke gun licenses. His bill, entitled the “Making America Safe and Secure Act,” would allow the Department of Justice to hand out $20 million in grants to states that modify their laws to fit the Massachusetts model.
In addition to gun control, Markey has been an advocate for consumer protection and privacy in the telecommunication industry, has written legislation regarding the electric power market, and was a co-author of the “first comprehensive climate control legislation to pass a chamber of Congress,” according to the biography on his website.
Featured Image by Kaitlin Meeks / Photo Editor
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