UNE hosts lecture by social/political activist, author Paul Loeb as launch of university’s upcoming first annual Day of Service

On March 24, 2016, the University of New England will host a lecture by Paul Rogat Loeb, titled “Soul of a Citizen: How Can You Make Your Voice Heard and Your Actions Count?” As the author of a book by the same title, Loeb will address what makes people – especially students – involved in working for change and what prevents other people from becoming involved in social issues.

Loeb’s lecture, which will take place at 6 p.m. in Leonard Hall on UNE’s Biddeford Campus, is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by UNE’s Office of Citizenship & Civic Engagement, Office of Intercultural Student Engagement, College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office, Department of Society, Culture and Languages, and the Department of Environmental Studies, the event is part of the university’s first Day of Service, an effort to inspire students, faculty and staff at UNE to volunteer in their communities. Over 350 members of the UNE community will spend Saturday, April 9 working with more than 20 local non-profit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Biddeford Community Bike Center, Biddeford Estates and Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center.

According to Theo Dunfey, UNE’s director of community programs in the Office of Citizenship and Civic Engagement, the university intends to make the Day of Service an annual event. “Our office is very pleased to be working with Senior Sociology student, Sarah Hoover, to launch this first Annual Day of Service, and we are excited to have Paul Loeb come into town two weeks earlier to kick-off our efforts to involve as many students, faculty and staff as we can in the Day of Service.”                                                                                             

Loeb has spent more than three decades researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment, exploring the questions of why some people choose lives of social commitment while others abstain. He has written five books, including Soul of a Citizen, The Impossible Will Take a Little While and Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy and Action on the American Campus. In 2008, he founded the Campus election Engagement Project, a non-partisan effort that helps colleges and universities engage their students with political elections. Loeb has lectured at more than 400 colleges and universities around the country, including Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Chicago, Michigan, MIT, Yale, Cornell, Duke and Columbia. He has written for publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe and has been interviewed on national radio and television outlets, including CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox, C-SPAN, NPR and the BBC.