Editor: Keith Davis Writers: Dave Maley Publisher: Office of Public Information Volume 22, No. 3   September 20, 1999

Professionals Symposium To Feature Former Prisoner Chinese human rights activist and former politcal prisoner Harry Wu will deliver the keynote address at the 14th annual Professionals Symposium. Wu will speak at the symposium’s awards banquet, scheduled for 6:00–9:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 25, in the Emerson Suites, Phillips Hall. Tickets for the banquet are available to the public and may be purchased in advance or at the door; for ticket information call 274-3381. Wu will also hold a book signing following the banquet. Titled "Voices of Courage: Forging New Nations of Learners," the Professionals Symposium will also feature a reception for participating alumni, a daylong series of career panels, and entertainment. "Our goal is to inspire undergraduates, celebrate their academic success, and expand their sense of what is possible," says Ethel David, director of the Office of Opportunity Programs. "The symposium allows them to meet and form relationships with alumni and supporters of the Ithaca Opportunity Program, the Higher Education Opportunity Program, and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program. It also offers alumni an opportunity to share their expertise and insights with current students by becoming role models and mentors." Wu spent 19 years as a political prisoner in China’s Laogai slave labor camps. Left for dead in a nightmarish solitary confinement, he fought back from the brink of insanity and was released in 1995; he later testified before the U.S. Congress on the human rights abuses he witnessed. Since then, Wu has risked his life by returning to China to secretly visit prison camps and document on film the slavery and abuse occurring there. Caught during one of those trips, he was found guilty of "stealing state secrets," sentenced to another 15 years in prison, and expelled. The author of two books about his experiences, Bitter Winds and Troublemaker: One Man’s Crusade against China’s Cruelty, Wu is the founder and executive director of the Laogai Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to compiling factual information about life within the labor camps. The Saturday schedule for the Professionals Symposium will include a luncheon; a series of career panels by alumni working in the areas of business, communications, education, health care, human services, law, and the performing arts; and musical entertainment by Fe Nunn ’80 and student organizations. The symposium is sponsored by the Offices of Opportunity Programs, Alumni Relations, Career Services, and Multicultural Affairs, with partial funding from the state education department.