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President's Lecture Series

Nobel Winner Discusses Campaign to Ban Landmines

"Landmines distinguish themselves because once they have been sown, once the soldier walks away from the weapon, the landmine cannot tell the difference between a soldier and a civilian -- a woman, a child, a grandmother going out to collect firewood to make the family meal. … The crux of the problem is that while the use of the weapon might be militarily justifiable during the battle, once peace is declared the landmine does not recognize that peace. The landmine is eternally prepared to take victims. … The war ends, the landmine goes on killing."

-- Jody Williams

Excerpted from 1997 Nobel Lecture

Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner, will speak Oct. 10 at 7:30 pm in Laxson Auditorium, as the featured speaker for the President's Lecture Series. Williams is one of only 10 women to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, and only the third woman from the United States. She is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which was launched in 1992. Williams has overseen the phenomenal growth of the ICBL and served as the chief strategist and spokesperson for the campaign against landmines. She now serves as campaign ambassador for the ICBL, speaking on its behalf all over the world.

Williams' lecture is sponsored, in part, by Chico Performances and the Office of the President. A reception follows the lecture.