[Oasfaa] COLIN POWELL TO DELIVER KEYNOTE ADDRESS SEPT 12 AT UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

Tue Sep 11 10:03:22 CDT 2007

For those of us who can't get to Tulsa tomorrow,  I've got to tell you
about who's visiting OU tomorrow.  

BEST-SELLING AUTHOR AND 65TH SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL 

TO DELIVER KEYNOTE ADDRESS SEPT. 12 AT UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: OU Public Affairs, (405) 325-1701 

NORMAN - Colin L. Powell, U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005,
will have a conversation with University of Oklahoma students on "The
Challenges Facing America" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Paul F.
Sharp Concert Hall in Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd St.
Additionally, a President's Associates reception, dialogue and dinner
featuring OU President David L. Boren and General Powell is scheduled
that evening. 

"We're honored to welcome General Powell to our campus. He is admired
not only as a public servant but also because of his work as a civic
volunteer in reaching out to help others. His wide personal experience
at the highest levels of our government give him a unique perspective
about the greatest challenges which our country faces in the years
ahead," said OU President David L. Boren. 

Upon becoming confirmed as the 65th Secretary of State on Jan. 20, 2001,
Powell stated that his guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy during
his tenure was that "America stands ready to help any country that
wishes to join the democratic world." 

Before becoming Secretary of State, Powell served as a key aide to the
Secretary of Defense and as a National Security Adviser and also served
35 years in the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of four-star
general and served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993, he oversaw 27 crises,
including the Panama intervention and Operation Desert Storm in the
Persian Gulf War. 

Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Powell joined the
president and other members of the president's cabinet in the war on
terror, stressing that it was a diplomatic as well as a military task.
Using diplomacy and the universal ideal of democracy, he led the State
Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts, build
trust and forge alliances in unstable areas, such as the Middle East,
the Sudan, Congo and Liberia, and, especially, Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Also concerned with the global and regional security challenges of the
21st century, Powell was at the forefront of the administration's
efforts to advance economic and social development worldwide - in the
fight against HIV/AIDS; in the promise of the Millennium Challenge
Account, perhaps the most significant change in helping needy nations
since the post-World War II Marshall Plan; and in pursuing a freer
trading and investment climate worldwide. In testimony before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, then Secretary Powell affirmed that the
nation's main purpose is to extend democracy, prosperity and freedom to
every corner of the world - a process that is establishing a balance of
power that favors freedom across the globe. 

Powell was founding chairman of America's Promise - The Alliance for
Youth, a national crusade to improve the lives of the nation's youth
that was established at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future in
Philadelphia in 1997 and has been endorsed by every living U.S.
president. In March 2000, while chairman of America's Promise, Powell
visited the OU Norman campus to deliver a keynote address launching a
student initiative on volunteerism: The Big Event. That event now
involves thousands of OU students, faculty and staff, who spend one day
in the spring performing service activities across central Oklahoma. 

Powell is the author of his best-selling autobiography, My American
Journey. 

He is the recipient of numerous U.S. military and civilian awards and
decorations, including twice being awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civil award. 

Since returning to private life, Powell has become a strategic limited
partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the renowned Silicon Valley
venture capital firm. He is the founder of the Colin Powell Policy
Center and he is helping to raise funds for the Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial in Washington, D.C., and for the construction of an education
center for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 

The address with Powell is open to OU faculty, staff and students, with
overflow seating available to the public. For more information on the
keynote address and accommodations on the basis of disability, call the
Office of Special Events at (405) 325-3784. 

Pam McConahay

Associate Director, University of Oklahoma Financial Aid Services

1000 Asp Ave, Room 216, Norman, OK 73019-4078

(405) 325-4617, Fax (405) 325-7608  

pmcconahay at ou.edu

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