Though members of almost all political arenas have dotted the list of Landon Lecture speakers for more than 40 years, Gen. Michael Hayden will be the first Central Intelligence Agency director to speak in the distinguished series.
Hayden will speak at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in McCain Auditorium.
Charles Reagan, chairman of the Landon Lecture Series, said he initiated contact with Hayden and invited him to K-State because he has been one of most influential political figures in the U.S. during the past several months.
"I'm very pleased to bring him here," Reagan said. "It continues our tradition of having top news-makers come to speak in our series."
Hayden has testified before Congress several times about whether some interrogation methods in Iraq are torture or not, especially waterboarding, which involves consistently pouring water on a person's face to imitate drowning. He has also testified about intelligence on North Korea's link with Syria's nuclear capabilities, Iran's possible threat of violence to the U.S. and other U.S. safety concerns. Hayden was also director of the National Security Agency from 1999-2005 and was responsible for regulating the controversial telephone surveillance program that many legislators and citizens have called an unlawful invasion of privacy.
Hayden is a four-star Air Force general, which means he is the highest-ranking intelligence officer in the military. Many legislators criticized him for remaining an officer after taking the CIA job, fearing of a military intervention in the intelligence agency. Last week, he announced he would retire from the Air Force.
Dale Herspring, university distinguished professor in political science, worked in the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service for 20 years and said he worked with CIA officials often. He said Hayden has generally been accepted as a better, tighter manager in the CIA.
"From everything we can see, so far he's done a good job," Herspring said.
Reagan said he hopes for a large turnout, especially from political science and journalism faculty and students. He said members of the K-State and Manhattan community should attend because most will not have the opportunity to see the CIA director free of charge and ask him questions directly at any other time in their lives.
"If you had a chance to see a band like Van Halen live or buy the tape, what would you do?" Reagan said. "And this is free."
Reagan said K-State students should take advantage of a series that most other students in the U.S. will never have access to. For example, Johnson County Community College recently hosted a lecture series that has lesser-known political figures and also charges students $50-$65.
A question-and-answer series will follow the lecture.
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LatinoReporter
posted 4/29/08 @ 2:31 PM CST
The event at Johnson County Community College featured political columnist George Will. Tickets for the event ran $50 - 65 for community members. Money raised from ticket sales went to support student scholarships at the college. (Continued…)
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