WMU News - Becoming more engaged in your community

Becoming more engaged in your community

April 4, 2006

KALAMAZOO--Bestselling author Paul Loeb will empower audience members to become engaged in their communities during a Wednesday, April 5, program at Western Michigan University. Loeb's presentation, which is free of charge and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. in 2302 Sangren Hall.

Loeb's lecture addresses key points about community involvement, including what gets people--especially students--involved in working for change; what prevents people from becoming involved; how community involvement can give a powerful sense of connection and purpose; and how to avoid volunteer burn out.

Loeb has spent more than years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment--asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. He has written five widely praised books, including "The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizens Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear" (Basic Books, 2004), "Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time" (St. Martin's Press, 1999), as well as "Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy and Action on the American Campus" (1994), "Hope in Hard Times" (1986), and "Nuclear Culture" (1982).

The event is sponsored by the WMU Progressive Student Alliance. Please contact Tim Hurttgam at (586) 201-6675 or timhurttgam@yahoo.com for more information. More information about Loeb can be found at www.paulloeb.org.

Media contact: Thom Myers, (269) 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu

WMU News
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