Current News

Leading environmentalist to speak April 16, prelude to April 19 Earth Day for family festivities on college green

April 02, 2003

For Immediate Release, April 2, 2003
Contact: Trish Brink (860) 439-2508

NEW LONDON, Conn. - William Shutkin, a leading voice in environmentalism and sustainable development and co-founder of the Boston-based environmental justice law center Alternatives for Community & Environment, will speak Wednesday, April 16, at Connecticut College as part of its 13th annual Earth Day festivities for southeastern Connecticut. Other Earth Day activities will be Saturday, April 19, on the College Green. All events are free and open to the public.

An attorney and president of New Ecology, Inc., a non-profit environmental organization, Shutkin's presentation, "It Will Take All Your Breath: An Earth Day Message," will be Wednesday, April 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the 1941 Room of the College Center at Crozier-Williams. The college is located on Route 32, or at 270 Mohegan Avenue.

Shutkin teaches environmental law and policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an adjunct professor of law at Boston College Law School. He has published many articles, chapters, reviews and opinion pieces on environmental law and policy and is the author of The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, which won the 2001 Best Book Award for Ecology and Transformational Politics from the American Political Science Association.

In a personal account on his Web site at http://web.mit.edu/shutkin/www, Shutkin explains his philosophy: "I believe the environment is more than just the remote and wild places so many of us love. It is an essential part of our everyday lives, no matter where we live or who we are. It is the raw matter that constitutes and sustains us; it is the boundless envelope that contains and inspires us.

"I believe that the same concern we have for beautiful, distant places we should have for the environment for everyday, the places where most of is live or work or play…For me, environmentalism has always been more than just wanting to protect natural areas and wilderness from the ravages of industrial society. It's about acting on the profound ecological notion that all things are connected, however fragilely [sic] - wilderness to city, industry to ecology, black to white, rich to poor - and that we should be good environmental stewards no matter where we find ourselves."

Earth Day activities at Connecticut College on April 19 feature entertainment for the entire family from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival will open with children's activities and a yoga demonstration, followed by Tom Callihan, a children's performer. There will be exhibits by national and local environmental groups, including Project Oceanology, Save Ocean Beach, and others; blue grass music; and an African drumming circle led by Connecticut College musician Jerry Ziegler. The popular Mystic Paper Beasts will appear throughout the day, and raffles for an interesting mix of 35 products - ranging from a framed mounted photograph of the New York City skyline prior to 9/11 titled "A Moment of Peace," to a family membership at the Connecticut College Arboretum - will be offered. The raffle tickets are free and the winners will be announced at 3:15 p.m. Other raffle items include books on natural gardening, arboretum posters and photographs, and gift certificates to many dining establishments.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College has an enrollment of approximately 1,850 men and women from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and 55 countries. The college is particularly known for interdisciplinary studies, innovative international programs, paid internships, and a wide range of student-faculty research opportunities. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 80-year-old honor code and has no Greek system. The scenic 750-acre campus is managed as an arboretum and overlooks Long Island Sound. For more information, see www.conncoll.edu. Connecticut College is located at 270 Mohegan Ave., New London.

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For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu