John Dickinson Forum: “Is it in America’s Interest to be a Member of the United Nations?”
On October 24, 2019, the John Dickinson Forum at George Fox University, a JMC partner program, will be hosting Ambassador David Rawson, Kelsey Zorzi, and Fred Gregory to discuss the United States’ role and interest in the United Nations.
Thursday, October 24, 2019, 6:30 PM
Canyon Commons, 101 • George Fox University
Ambassador David Rawson is a Visiting Scholar in George Fox University’s College of Business and a former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda (1993-96). After beginning his career as a professor, Ambassador Rawson worked in foreign affairs from 1971 to 1999. He served as an ambassador to Rwanda from 1993 to 1996, under Secretary of State for African Affairs George Moose during the Rwandan Civil War. After the war, he negotiated peace agreements with Rwandan insurgent leaders before going on to serve as the ambassador to Mali from 1996 to 1999. After leaving the State Department, Ambassador Rawson taught political science, African politics, and African history classes at Hillsdale College, Spring Arbor University, and, currently, George Fox University. He is the author of Prelude to Genocide: Arusha, Rwanda, and the Failure of Diplomacy (Ohio University Press, 2018), which provides a detailed account of the Rwandan Civil War and its causes and aftermath.
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Kelsey Zorzi is the Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom at the Alliance for Defending Freedom International. She leads efforts to address and counter global persecution against Christians and other religious minorities and engages with relevant UN and international bodies as well as U.S.-based institutions, including the U.S. State Department, U.S. Congress, and USCIRF, in order to assert freedom of religion as foundational to the international human rights framework. In 2018, she was elected President of the United Nations’ NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Zorzi earned her J.D. at the George Washington University Law School, where she participated in the GW-Oxford International Human Rights Law Program and won first place in the 2013 National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition. She is admitted to the state bars in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
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Fred Gregory has worked to build positive relationships with governments in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, China and Bangladesh. He has successfully managed programs funded by U.S. Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, United Nations, European Union and private donors. He has experience working with the UNHCR in refugee environments, mostly in East Africa. He has a Master of Science degree from the University of Oregon and a Bachelor of Science degree from George Fox University.
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The mission of the John Dickinson Forum for the Study of America’s Founding Principles, a JMC partner program, is to promote thoughtful study, discussion, and debate about America’s founding principles. It hopes to encourage conversations about whether or how these principles are relevant today. The Forum supports a variety of activities including lectures, book/current event discussion groups, and debates. It also partners with other institutions to make programming available to students at other schools and to the general public throughout the Pacific Northwest.
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This event is supported by Jack Miller Center’s Pacific Northwest Initiative: Advancing Education in America’s Founding Principles and History. Thanks to the generous grant from MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, JMC is working with faculty to organize exciting campus events in the region. The Initiative also provides programs, conferences and other opportunities for professors in the PNW—all to help them make a difference in the education of their students.
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