News Release

A panel discussion titled "Election 2008: The Politics of Race, Gender and Culture" will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, in Shriver Hall Auditorium on The Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St., in Baltimore. The event is free and open to the public.

Panelists include Allison Kasic of the Independent Women's Forum; Katrina Bell McDonald, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins; Howard Ehrlich, director of the Prejudice Institute; and Christine Valeriann, a board member representing the Baltimore chapter of the National Organization for Women. Representatives from the NAACP and the Black Political Action Committee are also expected to participate.

The event is presented by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern and Tribe, Inc., a nonpartisan organization dedicated to encouraging and facilitating dialogue on the issues of race, ethnicity and culture (online at www.tribecentral.org).

The discussion is the first in a series of speeches, presentations, debates and open forums exploring contemporary multicultural issues to be presented by the two groups. Anchored in America's rich intellectual diversity, this interdisciplinary, nonpartisan initiative brings a direct, scholarly and practical approach to the questions of race, ethnicity and culture. Featuring national perspectives and regional influences, the endeavor will provide a context for discussing the policies that impact American lives and the country's continuing transition to a multicultural democracy.

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern emphasizes the value of service with others rather than the commonly accepted concept of service to others. The volunteer and client enter into an educational process in which both benefit from the interaction, and reciprocal learning is the common ground for all initiatives. The Center for Social Concern programs and efforts are striving to create a better community in and around the Homewood campus.

For information about the Center for Social Concern, call 410-516-4777. For information about Tribe Inc., contact Marcus Williams at 202-544-3134 or mwilliams@tribecentral.org.