College Relations

March 24, 2005

Contact: Jim Glynn at 978-542-7519 or email james.glynn@salemstate.edu

SALEM - This year's Earth Day activities at Salem State College will include a presentation of the Champion of Public Health Awards to Rep. John Tierney of Salem and Tufts University professor Veronica Eady of Roxbury.

Presented by the Friends of the Earth at Salem State College, the awards recognize outstanding leadership in environmental issues. Tierney, a 1973 graduate of the college, is the U.S Congressman representing the Sixth District of Massachusetts. Eady, general counsel for West Harlem Environmental Action, a community-based environmental justice organization in New York City, is an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law. She previuosly held a faculty position in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, where she taught Environmental Justice, Environmental Communication and Education, Legal Frameworks in Social Policy and Air Quality.

The awards ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 11 in Charlotte Forten Hall on the fourth floor of the college's library on Lafayette Street. During the ceremony, Salem State College students will receive awards from Nancy Harrington, president of the college, for producing winning environmental research posters. The evening will conclude with group discussions on this year's Earth Day celebration theme, "Take Back Your Neighborhood."

This year, Salem State is expanding its annual Earth Day celebration to an Earth Days celebration, as events begin on April 4 and run though April 22. Here is a list of scheduled events.

Monday, April 4 through Friday, April 22 -- An art exhibit by Salem Public schools will be on display on the first floor of the Salem State College library. An environmental film series will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Central Campus Residence Hall.

Saturday, April 9 - The SSC student theater ensemble will perform "Take Back Your Neighborhood" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Charlotte Forten Hall. A "Going Green" open house" will take place 1-4 p.m. at the Carlton School in Salem.

Monday, April 11 - Environmental agencies will set up booths in the Ellison Campus Center from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the Environmental Career and Volunteer Fair. The research poster competition will run from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Ellison Campus Center. A panel discussion on environmental justice is scheduled for 1:30 to 3 p.m. also in the Campus Center. The reception and awards ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. and run until 9 p.m.

Saturday, April 16 - The annual Earth Day cleanup of the North River, organized in conjunction with the Massachusetts Community Water Watch, will begin at 11 a.m. in Leslie's Retreat Park in Salem.

Earth Day events at Salem State are sponsored by Healthlink and the college's Peace Institute, Office of the President, the Dean's Office, the School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School and the Academic Affairs Office.

For more information, contact Professor Ana Echevarria-Morales at (978) 542-6385 or visit www.salemstate.edu/earthday.