Arts & Lectures
2001-2002 Season Lecture Series News Release
For Immediate Release

January 22, 2002
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@sa.ucsb.edu

Ralph Reed and Barry Lynn conduct the forum “God and Country: The Role of Religion in American Public Life” at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

“God and Country: The Role of Religion in American Public Life,” a unique and timely forum, will be presented on Thursday, February 28 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. The evening will feature Ralph Reed, former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition and Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and will be moderated by Phillip Hammond, Professor of Religious Studies at UCSB. The forum is sure to be of interest at this time when President Bush is calling for a federal office to establish “faith-based” social services and education vouchers for private schools, and when the September 11 terrorist attacks have turned many Americans to religion as a guide.

Time magazine named Ralph Reed one of its fifty future leaders of America under forty. Reed earned a B.A. in History from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in American History from Emory University in Atlanta. From 1982-1984 he served as Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee. A meeting with Pat Robertson at an inaugural party for President George Bush Sr. led to Reed’s becoming the Executive Director of the Christian Coalition. He built the Coalition into a national political power during his eight-year tenure: the organization has 1.9 million members and a $27 million annual budget. The Reed-led Coalition helped organize the campaign against the National Endowment for the Arts and the campaign in support of Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court. Reed currently heads up the political consulting firm Century Strategies, which advises a wide range of candidates and companies. He is a frequent commentator on television shows such as Meet the Press, Crossfire, Nightline and Larry King Live.

Barry Lynn is a long-time activist in the civil liberties field and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Lynn earned a B.A. from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, his theology degree from Boston University and his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. From 1984-1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he frequently worked on church-state issues. Since 1992 he has been Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization 60,000 members strong that since 1947 has fought to protect the First Amendment principle of church-state separation. Lynn is a frequent commentator on television shows such as The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Crossfire, Nightline and Larry King Live.

UCSB Professor Phillip Hammond, the evening’s moderator, is an expert in the field of the sociology of religion. He is currently researching the changing character of the American Supreme Court. His books include The Dynamics of Religious Organizations and With Liberty for All.

This forum is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, Department of Religious Studies, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Department of History, UCSB College Republicans, Young America’s Foundation, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Ticket prices are $10 for the general public and $5 for UCSB students. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the door the night of the forum, if available, beginning at 7 pm.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.

©2002 UCSB Arts & Lectures, University of California, Santa Barbara