Strathmore Speaker Series

Jim McKeever and Nina Wickett, “Providing Hope at the Border”

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Join the Strathmore Speakers Series and Onondaga Free Library for an evening with Central New Yorkers Jim McKeever and Nina Wickett, both of whom have made several volunteer trips to the US-Mexico border to work with migrants and the organizations that support them. They have volunteered in Tijuana and San Diego, and Jim has also worked with Team Brownsville in Texas. In this insightful talk, Jim and Nina will share their experiences, including working alongside migrants in a community kitchen in Tijuana, escorting recently released ICE detainees to the San Diego airport to reunite with loved ones across the U.S., placing life-saving water and supplies in the desert, and delivering groceries to shelters in Tijuana. Jim and Nina say they have witnessed the extraordinary courage, resilience and gratitude of the migrants who are hopeful that the U.S. will welcome them. A brief Q&A will follow their presentation.

This event will be held on Thursday, April 13th at 7 pm on Zoom. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

You can register for this event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rce-srz0uE9RjymaPSk84ngyI1QHuLLJh

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Jim McKeever and Nina Wickett

(L-R) Jim McKeever, Nina Wickett, and two young men who are migrants and who work at a community kitchen in Tijuana. Photo from ArtRage Gallery.

Jim McKeever was a staff writer for The Post-Standard in Syracuse for more than 20 years and has volunteered at the US-Mexico border numerous times since 2019. He is a co-founder of senseofdecency.com and shares the stories of asylum seekers and other migrants, including many who live in Central New York.  

Nina Wickett spent most of her career in finance and accounting.  She was the bookkeeper for the Syracuse Peace Council for 10 years. She volunteers with local immigration assistance efforts and since 2019, has been going down to the border with Jim McKeever to help asylum seekers.

(L-R) Jim McKeever, Nina Wickett. Photo provided.

Rob Boston on the “Separation of Church and State in American Life”

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Join the Strathmore Speakers Series and Onondaga Free Library for an evening with Rob Boston, Senior Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, for an important discussion of the role the separation of church and state has played, and continues to play, in American life. “The ‘wall of separation between church and state’ is,” American United argues, “an American original—an American invention born in the Enlightenment, but first implemented in the great ‘American Experiment.’ Until then, no other nation had sought to protect the people’s right to think freely by separating religion and government.” Mr. Boston will provide a historical overview of this “wall of separation,” and highlight the ways in which Americans of all religions, creeds and political persuasions have sought to defend or compromise this uniquely American ideal. A brief Q&A will follow Mr. Boston’s talk.

This event will be held on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7 pm on Zoom. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

You can register for this event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArce6hrz0pHNKyMBBNWPhnQZjH-FH9sZSS

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Rob Boston

Rob Boston is Senior Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Editor of Church & State, AU’s monthly membership magazine. Rob, who has worked at Americans United since 1987, is the author of four books: Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics (Prometheus Books, 2000); The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition (Prometheus Books, 1996); Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State (Prometheus Books, 1993; second edition, 2003) and, most recently, Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You The Right To Tell Other People What To Do (Prometheus Books, 2014).”

Historian Dennis Connors on “The Onondaga Arsenal: Reflections on a War of 1812 Landmark”

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Join the Strathmore Speakers Series and Onondaga Free Library for an evening with historian and former curator of the Onondaga Historical Association, Dennis Connors. Mr. Connors will recount the twisted tale, stretching over three centuries, of how our community treasured, remembered, and ultimately lost a unique link to its past: the Onondaga Arsenal. A brief Q&A will follow.

This event will be held on Thursday, November 10th at 7 pm on Zoom. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

You can register for this event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoceyprzgsE9Hk9leC4ClQIZQMX5JjXHol

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

About Dennis Connors

Dennis Connors has worked in historical agencies since 1972 and as curator of history at the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, New York from 1999 until his retirement in 2018.  He was employed originally by the Association from 1992 to 1999 as its Executive Director.  Previous to that, he was the Supervisor of Historic Resources for Onondaga County Parks for 14 years, overseeing three historic properties.  He also served as executive director for the Landmarks Association of Central New York for three years. He recently was a contributing author for the New York State Encyclopedia Project and has authored and edited six books on Syracuse area history, the most recent being Syracuse’s Grand Hotel: A History, published in 2017.  Mr. Connors has a history degree from the State University of NY at Buffalo with a concentration in museum studies.

About the Onondaga Arsenal

The Onondaga Arsenal is a little-known landmark structure hidden away on a hillside overlooking Syracuse’s Valley neighborhood.  It is a fascinating local link to one of America’s earliest military struggles – the War of 1812.  But its 200-year-old story is also an intriguing yet sad tale of our community’s own struggle to recognize and preserve the history embedded in its architectural landmarks.  Local historian Dennis Connors will explore how the arsenal came to be built where it was and its role in the War of 1812; plus discuss the sometimes confusing, usually frustrating and often futile efforts to preserve it.

Law Professor Jenny Breen on “The Supreme Court and the Shaping of American Society”

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Join the Strathmore Speakers Series and Onondaga Free Library for an evening with Syracuse University College of Law professor Jenny Breen, as she discusses the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on American politics. Looking beyond the well-publicized verdict in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Professor Breen will provide analysis of several of the Court’s lesser-known, yet equally consequential rulings. Upcoming cases, including the deeply significant Moore v. Harper, will also be addressed. A brief Q&A will follow Professor Breen’s talk.

This event will be held on Thursday, September 8 at 7 pm on Zoom. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

You can register for this event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckde6qpzIsGNO56ulJ2hphhSavRIbPOGF2

About Jenny Breen

Jenny Breen teaches Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Labor Law. Her interdisciplinary scholarship is centrally concerned with democratic governance in the United States and pays particular attention to the roles of gender and labor politics. Her current research examines the Supreme Court’s relationship to democratic erosion in the United States. She has also written in the areas of immigration and criminal law. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in journals including the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, the University of Hawai’i Law Review, the American Criminal Law Review, and the Journal of Policy History. She received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Common Cause on “Redistricting, Gerrymandering, and the Independent Syracuse Redistricting Commission”

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Join the Strathmore Speakers Series and Onondaga Free Library for an evening with Abbey McHugh and Heather Cogan of Common Cause NY, as they discuss gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the recent work of Syracuse’s independent Redistricting Commission. Syracuse is one of only a handful of governments in the nation to adopt an independent redistricting model and is believed to be the first city east of the Mississippi River to do so. Onondaga County’s process was largely criticized as partisan and messy, resulting in district maps that are currently facing legal action. Ms. McHugh and Ms. Cogan will highlight the importance of Syracuse’s independent model, its potential impact on Syracuse’s voting districts, and ways average citizens can engage in this unique, once-in-a-decade process.

This event will be held on Thursday, June 2 at 7 pm on Zoom. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

You can register for this event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvc-GhrDksHdeNegZTHC36tYPjxT8SQa0a

About Common Cause

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. Common Cause works to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process. Common Cause New York is one of the most active state chapters in the country, representing tens of thousands of New Yorkers throughout the state. With over 64,000 members, Common Cause NY is a leader in the movement for election administration reform, campaign finance reform and upholding ethics laws to impact systems that undermine people’s faith in democracy.