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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel will visit the Oregon State University campus on April 13-15, where he will call on Pacific Northwest high school students, teachers and OSU students to create a better world through community service and global action.

His appearance is part of PeaceJam, a two-day conference that will bring some 300 youth, teachers and college mentors to campus to meet with Pérez Esquivel. Forty OSU students will serve as mentors.

"PeaceJam's Global Call to Action service projects align perfectly with OSU's institutional focus on healthy people, healthy planet, healthy economy," said event coordinator Emily Bowling.

Pérez Esquivel will give a free public talk on Friday, April 13, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The 1980 Nobel Peace Laureate will speak on "Peace as the Grand Revolution." Doors open at 7 p.m., when the Eugene band Krishna and Friends will perform.

In the 1970s Pérez Esquivel worked to expose oppressive regimes that caused the murder and kidnapping of tens of thousands of Latin Americans. He was jailed and tortured in Argentina from 1977-78. He now serves on the board of PeaceJam, an international education program that works with Nobel Peace Prize laureates to engage youth in volunteerism.

His visit is sponsored by the OSU Division of Student Affairs, the Center for Civic Engagement, and the pre-college programs initiative.

"This is our eighth PeaceJam  and each brings a Nobel laureate to campus," said Courtney Nikolay, one of the campus coordinators. "The (participating) youths will contribute over 600 hours in service to local non-profit organizations during the weekend."

In addition to learning more about OSU Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, the environment, and the value of a college education, students will volunteer at more than a dozen area non-profits and participate in workshops led by members of the Corvallis community, OSU faculty and students.

For more information, go online to oregonstate.edu/peacejam or www.peacejam.org

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