ISU Human Rights Day set for March 22

Indiana State University’s (ISU) Human Rights Day Committee has scheduled the 2022 Human Rights Day for 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., on Tuesday, March 22.

Southern Oregon University Professor Emeritus Irving Lubliner and Jeannie Smith will be this year’s featured keynote speakers.

The event, which will take place in the Hulman Memorial Student Union, begins at 9 a.m., with a welcome from ISU President Dr. Deborah Curtis, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett and Vigo County School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Rob Haworth. WTWO Assignment Manager/Reporter Nicole Krasean will serve as emcee.

The keynote session will begin at 9:15 a.m., and conclude at 11:15 a.m. It will include both speakers and a question and answer session.

Lubliner specializes in mathematics. In his 40-year teaching career, he has taught math at all levels, including kindergarten through graduate school. In 2019, he established Felabra Press and published his mother’s writings about her experiences during the Holocaust.

Before she passed away in 1974, Lubliner’s mother, Felicia Bornstein Lubliner, wrote about her imprisonment in Polish ghettos and two Nazi concentration camps – Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen. Her son wrote the foreword and afterword in the book, “Only Hope: A Survivor’s Stories of the Holocaust.”

During his engagement with students, Lubliner will discuss his mother’s experiences and spirit as well as his experience as a child of Holocaust survivors and the process of creating the book.

Smith is the daughter of Polish rescuer Irene Gut Opdyke, who received international recognition for her actions during the Holocaust while working for a high-ranking German official. The Israeli Holocaust Commission named Irene one of the Righteous Among the Nations and she received the Israeli Medal of Honor.

During her keynote, Smith will speak to the horrors and hate of the Holocaust while bringing a message of faith, hope and love that good will triumph over evil.

Following the keynote speakers’ presentations, those in attendance will have time for lunch before breakout sessions begin. The first breakout sessions start at noon and conclude at 12:50 p.m., while session two will be from 1-1:50 p.m.

The two breakout sessions will include presentations from Garrett Hurley, ISU Journalism Professor Dr. Lori Henson, De. DeShawn Burrell, Leesa Kelly and President of the Greater Terre Haute NAACP Branch Sylvester Edwards.

Hurley will focus on the topic of food justice, exploring themes related to food deserts, environmental racism and sustainable agriculture practices.

Henson’s topic of discussion will center on how social media is and has been used to create positive change in society, diving into how social movements and individuals have used social networks to raise issue awareness, raise funds and organize and mobilize people.

During his interactive presentation, Burrell will explain and explore the unintentional missteps around cultural competence and sensitivity, digging deep into the gift and curse of social media and the most impactful and respectful approaches to championing other cultures.

During her presentation, Chicago native Kelly will discuss Memorialize the Movement (MTM), which she founded. During her engagement with students, Kelly will talk about MTM and art, specifically discussing how art has always been a tool for creating conversations around social movements.

During his presentation, Edwards will discuss how truth is a fundamental right and that it is the foundation which humans need to progress, specifically detailing how truth is the building block of life and world society.