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LAWRENCE -- More than 400 student activists from across the nation will converge on the University of Kansas campus this week to participate in the 2002 Campus Greens national convention.
The convention, "Justice Across Generations," runs from Thursday, Aug. 8, to Sunday, Aug. 11.
"The primary goal of the convention is to empower students to create radical change on their campuses and in their communities," said Kyle Browning, May 2002 KU graduate and a convention coordinator.
Browning said Lawrence and the KU campus were chosen as the site for the convention because of the central location and the strong tradition of progressive activism here.
In the 2000 presidential election, Douglas County was one of the nation's top 20 supporters for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Moreover, the KU Campus Green Party ranked among the nation's top 10 in campus party involvement.
Convention attendees will be able to participate in a number of workshops, tackling topics such as sustainable agriculture, issues facing indigenous peoples, campus politics, electoral reform, and art and activism.
The convention also will hold a rally at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at the Lied Center that will feature noted political activists Tom Hayden and Vernon Bellecourt and folk singer Iris DeMent, among others.
The rally is open to the public. Tickets are $8 with a valid KU student ID and $12 for the general public.
Tom Hayden, retired California state senator, was a member of the "Chicago Seven," the group of activists arrested outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Hayden also is credited with forming the Students for a Democratic Society in the early 1960s.
Bellecourt was co-founder of the American Indian Movement.
Although participants don't have to be members of the Campus Greens organization to attend the convention, Browning said the convention would focus on engaging college students in the political process.
"Young people are the future of this country, and we hope that future will be based on ecological wisdom, nonviolence, grassroots democracy and social justice," he said. "In order to realize those goals, we must train and mobilize students to be architects of that world."
Tickets for the rally can be purchased at the Raven Bookstore in Lawrence; Mass Street Music in Lawrence; Recycled Sounds in Kansas City; the SUA Ticket Office on the KU campus, (785) 864-SHOW; and the Lied Center Ticket Office, (785) 864-ARTS.
For more information about the scheduled workshops, or to register for the convention, visit www.campusgreens.org.
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