Michael Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will deliver a lecture at 4:30 p.m., Oct. 17, in Champ Auditorium on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, MO.
Although admission is free to the lecture, reserved seat tickets will be required. Members of the general public can request tickets by calling the Office of Alumni and College Relations at 573-592-5319 or by emailing the request to alumni@westminster-mo.edu. Reserved tickets will be available at the will call desk at Champ Auditorium one hour before the lecture.
Westminster students, faculty and staff as well as members of the general public can pick up tickets Thursday, Oct. 11 and Friday, Oct. 12 from 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Alumni Office located in |
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Washington West and Monday, Oct. 15 and Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Johnson College Inn in the Hunter Activity Center.
Chertoff is only the second Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in our country’s history and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Feb. 15, 2005. Formerly, he served as U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (2003-2005).
Beginning in 2001, he served as Asst. Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. In this position, he oversaw the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, helping to trace the attacks to the al-Quaida network and working to increase information sharing within the FBI and with state and local officials.
Before joining the Bush administration, he was a partner in the law firm of Latham & Watkins. From 1994-1996, he served as Special Counsel to the U.S. Senate Whitewater Committee.
Prior to that position, Chertoff spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, including service as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. As a federal prosecutor, he investigated and personally prosecuted significant cases of political corruption, organized crime and corporate fraud. Among them was the “Mafia Commission” case, in which the leaders of La Casa Nostra were all convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prison for directing the criminal activities of the American Mafia.
Chertoff graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1975 and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978. From 1979-1980, he served as clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Judge William Brennan, Jr.
Chertoff is one of many national and international speakers who have come to Westminster College during its rich history. The tradition began with Sir Winston Churchill’s historic “Sinews of Peace” speech in 1946 when the entire world turned to this small college community in Fulton, Missouri, to hear the prophetic words that “an iron curtain has descended,” thus defining the state of international affairs for the next 45 years. This one historic moment has led to a steady procession of world leaders bringing their messages to Westminster over the years, including four U.S. Presidents, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, and most recently, Robert Kennedy, Jr.
The centerpiece of the Churchill legacy is the Winston Churchill Memorial and Museum, a 17th century English church shipped to Westminster stone-by-stone in 1969. After a $4 million renovation in 2005, the Churchill museum there now attracts thousands of each year to view its state-of-the-art interactive exhibits.
