Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright launched the George T. Hunter Lecture Series on the sixth anniversary of September 11 to a receptive crowd of more than 875 people in the Fine Arts Center and Benwood Auditorium.
Saying “the best part about not being secretary of state is that I can actually answer your questions,” Albright commented on a range of topics including the need for the United States to stay engaged in the changing role of the United Nations, genocide in Darfur and the United States’ role in Iraq.
In a news conference before her lecture, Albright enthusiastically endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president. She talked about her role in the Clinton administration, recalling earlier terrorist attacks.
“September 11 reminded me of a very difficult period,” she said. “I loved being Secretary of State, but my worst day was August 7, 1998, when the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were blown up.”
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The George T. Hunter Lecture Series will continue on Tuesday, November 6 at 7 p.m. when Bill McKibben speaks at the Benwood Auditorium. McKibben is the author of the first book addressing the issue of global warming written for a general audience. The End of Nature, published in 1989, sounded one of the earliest alarms about global warming; the decade of science since has proved his prescience. McKibben is a frequent contributor to a variety of publications, including The New York Review of Books, Outside, and The New York Times.
