A Conversation on “Principled Leadership”:
8 p.m. Thursday, March 3
TACOMA, Wash. – The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., the U.S. Attorney General who fought to protect America’s democratic values on issues including voting rights, the War on Terror, same-sex marriage, and immigration, will speak at the University of Puget Sound on Thursday, March 3.
Prior to serving as the first African American to hold the top legal post, Holder spent most of his public service career under Democratic and Republican administrations. He was nominated for Senate confirmation by three presidents. Ronald Reagan named him an associate judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court; Bill Clinton appointed him deputy attorney general; President Barack Obama appointed him Attorney General of the United States.
In conversation format with Michael Reiss, attorney, and partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Holder will speak on the topic “Principled Leadership: The Courage to Face Challenge.” The public event will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, in Schneebeck Concert Hall. Ticket information is below, and early booking is recommended. Please note that a photo ID will be required at the door, and no large bags, packages, or backpacks will be admitted.
Holder’s legacy as the country’s third-longest serving attorney general was summed up concisely by TIME magazine in 2014 when it named him to its list of the 100 Most Influential People. Holder, the editors wrote, “worked tirelessly to ensure equal justice.”
When President Obama nominated Holder as attorney general in December 2008, the Queens-raised lawyer and son of a real-estate broker told the nation, “We can and we must ensure that the American people remain secure and that the great Constitutional guarantees that define us as a nation are truly valued.”
With Osama bin Laden still on the run and a crumbling economy causing anxiety, it was a remark that went straight to Americans’ hearts. Holder stuck to his theme.
He upheld the President’s right to aggressively pursue terrorists, testifying before Congress on the legality of the U.S. Special Forces operation that killed bin Laden, and shifting terrorism cases to the civilian federal courts, where convictions were secured against major conspirators.
In 2010 Holder filed a suit against Arizona after the border state passed a new immigration law that critics feared would lead to racial profiling. It was a contest the attorney general largely won in a 2012 Supreme Court ruling. More than a dozen states were pushing for new laws requiring tougher voter identification measures in that same year. Holder sternly criticized the plans and vowed to fight any changes that would disenfranchise Americans. That battle continues in the Supreme Court.
Over the years, Holder also advanced the constitutional equality of marriages between same-sex couples, reduced the incarceration of those convicted of minor drug charges, and aggressively prosecuted hate crimes. As a Covington & Burling LLP partner, the Columbia Law School graduate continues to share his experience and with clients and the community. His many civic commitments have included serving on Columbia University boards, the National Center for Victims of Crime, the Meyer Foundation, and Save the Children, among many others.
Holder has been honored numerous times, including receiving the NAACP Chairman’s Award, the Department of Justice’s John F. Keeney Award, George Washington University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Medal for Outstanding Service in Human Rights, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Robert F. Kennedy Justice Prize. A mentor to disadvantaged youth and a long-standing basketball fan, Holder lives with his family in Washington, D.C.
The conversation with Eric Holder is sponsored by the Susan Resneck Pierce Lectures in Public Affairs and the Arts, University of Puget Sound’s premier lecture series. The series brings intellectuals, public figures, writers, and artists to the university to present challenging ideas that stimulate further exploration and discussion on campus.
Past Pierce lecturers have included The Washington Post political writer E.J. Dionne; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz; Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka; economist Robert Reich; author Carlos Fuentes; psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison; filmmaker Spike Lee; the Hon. Cory Booker, now a
U. S. senator; political commentator David Brooks; columnist Thomas Friedman; playwright Edward Albee; race and religion scholar Cornel West; musician Philip Glass; playwright Suzan-Lori Parks; dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp; historian and television host Henry Louis Gates Jr.; and Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat.
FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu or Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $20 for the general public. The lecture is free for Puget Sound faculty, staff, and students with ID, but tickets are required. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
For directions and a map of the University of Puget Sound campus:pugetsound.edu/directions
For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.
Press photos of Eric Holder can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
Photos on page: From top right: Eric Holder; Eric Holder laying a wreath at Wounded Knee Memorial, 2009.
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