Former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to speak at UNC

Thurs., Mar. 6
7 p.m.
Chancellor's East Room
Carolina Inn

Former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco will give a free public lecture about the “Lessons of Hurricane Katrina” on Thurs., Mar. 6, at  7 p.m. in the Chancellor’s East Room in The Carolina Inn.

Blanco was governor when the state was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Her free public speech, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the American South, is the third annual Charleston Area Alumni Lecture in Southern Affairs.

On March 7, Governor Blanco will participate in the Carolina Seminar on Coastalization, hosted by the UNC Program on Public Life, a unit of the Center that applies the university scholarship to enhance public policy and leadership. This regional emergency preparedness seminar comes on the heels of a multi-million dollar U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant being awarded to UNC at Chapel Hill to create a Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management.  Governor Blanco’s participation reiterates the importance of Louisiana’s experience to future regional planning.

“We must look at the lessons learned from Louisiana’s experience from a regional perspective,” said former Governor Blanco.  “Our goal must be to better prepare not just Louisiana, but all Southern States and indeed the United States – to better prepare for future catastrophes on the scale of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  I am honored to accept the invitation to speak at one of the South’s premier institutions.” 

"The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has adistinctive history of addressing the issues facing the people of North Carolina and the South," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life. "Since the storms and flood of 2005, students as well as faculty have traveled to Louisiana to assist in various ways in recovery. The lecture and the seminar will give Governor Blanco opportunities to provide lessons from her experience to both scholars and public policy makers."

Governor Blanco’s UNC address is the third in a series of post-term speaking engagements.  Last month, Governor Blanco appeared as part of the Distinguished
Lecture Series at the Clinton School of Public Service  in Little Rock, Arkansas.  She also delivered the keynote address to Southern Business & Development
Magazine’s regional conference in Birmingham, Alabama.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Richard W. Riley, a former U.S. Secretary of Education and governor of South Carolina, are among previous speakers for the Charleston lecture.

Established by the UNC Board of Governors in 1992, the Center for the Study of the American South fosters scholarship and exploration into the past, present and future of the region.  The center’s programs emphasize Southern history, literature and culture.

For more information, contact Lisa Eveleigh, (919) 962-0506 or \n eveleigh@email.unc.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Web site: http://www.uncsouth.org/

Note: Blanco can be available to media representatives at intervals during the day on March 7. To request an interview, contact Ferrel Guillory at (919) 962-5936 or \n guillory@unc.edu. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Center for the Study of the American South contact: Lisa Eveleigh, (919) 962-0506, \n eveleigh@email.unc.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

News Services ontact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589