For Immediate Release
April 11, 2007
Contact:   Melanie McDonald, director of media relations, 574-284-4579

Nobel Peace Prize Winner to Deliver Keynote at Saint Mary's College Conference

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, will speak at Saint Mary's College on Thursday, April 26 at 7 p.m. in the Angela Athletic Facility. Her presentation, "The Role of Women in World Peace," is free and open to the public.

Ebadi's address is part of a three-day conference (Thursday, April 26 to Saturday, April 28) hosted by the Saint Mary's College Center for Women's InterCultural Leadership (CWIL). The conference, "Women as Intercultural Leaders:   Collaboration at the Crossroads," begins with registration at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 26. Registration is open throughout the day until 6:30 p.m. You do not need to register for the conference to attend the keynote.

Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her pioneering efforts in democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children in Iran. Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom, and freedom of speech.

As a lawyer, Ebadi has been involved in many controversial political cases, and worked actively and successfully to reveal the leaders responsible for the attack on students at Tehran University in 1999 where several students died. Consequently, she has been imprisoned numerous times.

Ebadi earned a law degree from the University of Tehran. From 1975-79, she served as president of the city court of Tehran, one of the first female judges in Iran. After the revolution in 1979, she was forced to resign. She now works as a lawyer.

Other highlights of the national conference include 30 concurrent sessions with presenters from 22 states and four countries; "Ran Away," a performance about the struggles of women refugees, representing diverse cultures from the Middle East, Iraq and Iran, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa; and the closing plenary panel, which includes Johnella Butler, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Spelman College, U.S. Congresswoman and Saint Mary's College alumna Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, and Evelyn Hu DeHart, director of the Center for Study of Race and Ethnicity at Brown University.

The Lilly Endowment, Inc., funds CWIL and this conference.

To register, or for more information about the conference, call 284-4051.

###