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Adelphi University Hosts Live Dialogue Between Its Students and Students in Tehran
Garden City, NY
April 30, 2003
Adelphi University is pleased to present an unprecedented tele-conference Symposium on Monday May 5, 2003, a live dialogue between its own students and Iranian students in Tehran. The American component of the event will take place in the Ballroom of the Ruth S. Harley University Center on Adelphi's Garden City campus, beginning at noon Eastern time, eight o'clock Tehran time. The event is co-sponsored by the Honors College and Adelphi University Amnesty International Student Group, and will be moderated by Shahram Hashemi, a student in The Honors College.
Hashemi, a popular junior at Adelphi who organized a chapter of Amnesty International on campus, is the driving force behind the town-hall-type meeting planned for Monday. Born in Iran, with vivid childhood memories of his native land's war with Iraq, Hashemi has also won international attention for his heroics on the day of the 9/11 attacks, when he was on his way to his job as an accounting intern at the Bank of New York in lower Manhattan. His supervisor at the bank has said Hashemi acted "without any regard to the dangers to his own life," as he helped lead people to shelter that day. The President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, invited him to a gathering at the United Nations in November 2001. He also organized Adelphi's Student Symposium on U.S. Foreign Policy and The Iraq Crisis that drew hundreds to Adelphi last year and is one of many international initiatives that have been organized by students in 2002-2003.
The intentions of Hashemi, and Dean Richard Garner of Adelphi's Honors College, are to highlight:
- A conversation between students of Adelphi University and Tehran University on the prospects for improving relations between American and Iranian communities.
- An exchange of ideas and an exploration of ways to enhance the understanding of each other nations and culture.
- An analysis of how to move forward despite the history of strained relations between our two countries during the past several decades.
"We need to start from somewhere," says Hashemi, noting that the United States has had no diplomatic relations with Tehran for more than two decades. "After twenty years, it is very important for students to start a dialogue with Iranian students since it seems apparent that the governments are not willing to start the dialogue." Adelphi President Robert A. Scott reflects on an academic year of encouraging student involvement in international affairs: "The events of September 11, 2001, brought to the attention of everyone the small world in which we live and that our lives are connected. The role of a university is to prepare people for citizenship, not just careers.
President Scott and Shahram Hashemi are available for interview.
About Adelphi University: Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, the Honors College, ABLE Program, and the Schools of Business, Education, Nursing and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls over 7,700 students from 44 states and 60 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.
Media Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Lori Duggan Gold
Vice President for Communications
p - 516.877.3693
f - 516.877.3266
e - duggangold@adelphi.edu
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