Political activist and author Tom Hayden will give the keynote address for Kent State’s eighth annual Symposium on Democracy, “Democracy and Peace? Historical Links and Implications for World Order,” on Thursday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kiva. Hayden’s speech, “Kent State: Memories of the Future,” will describe how the effort of future generations to remember what happened at Kent State is a test of America's strength of democratic character. The event is free and open to the public.

Hayden has worked to reform politics through citizen participation for more than 40 years. As student editor at the University of Michigan, Hayden was a founding member of Students for a Democratic America in 1961. He traveled through the south as a Freedom Rider in the early 1960s, and during the Vietnam War, he advocated peace through teach-ins, demonstrations and writings.

A former member of the California state assembly and state senate, Hayden has eighteen years of experience in politics. In addition, he has served twice on the Democratic Party's national platform committee and attended ten Democratic national conventions, six times as a delegate.

Hayden recently taught at Pitzer College, Occidental College and Harvard's Institute of Politics, and lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and son. Hayden also has two other adult children from an earlier marriage to the actress-activist Jane Fonda.

In addition to Hayden’s keynote address, the symposium will feature a dialogue with Edward Gray, producer of a PBS series America at a Crossroads documentary titled “Security Versus Liberty: The Other War,” and four panel discussions on the democratic peace in theory and practice, critical perspectives on democracy promotion, democracy and the global war on terror, and U.S. foreign policy after 9/11.

For a full biography of Tom Hayden, visit www.TomHayden.com. For more information and a schedule of events, visit the Symposium Web site at http://www.kent.edu/DemocracySymposium.