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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Mary Robinson, chair of the Council of Women World Leaders and president of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, believes that rights are weapons the weak can use against the strong. An outspoken human rights advocate, she is a world leader who puts humanity at the forefront of politics.

Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland, will bring her message to Transylvania University on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium, when she delivers the fall Kenan Lecture. The event is free and open to the public.

While serving as the president of the Republic of Ireland from 1990-97, Robinson placed an emphasis on the needs of developing countries. From 1997-2002 she served as United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights and gained a reputation for her willingness to stand up to powerful governments.

Credited by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan with “putting human rights on the map,” Robinson was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2002. She was the first head of state to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide there, and the first to visit Somalia following the 1992 crisis there.

The Kenan Lecture Series is made possible by a grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.

Transylvania, founded in 1780, is the nation’s sixteenth oldest institution of higher learning and is consistently ranked in national publications as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.