FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 24, 2004

CONTACT:
Lisa Lacher, Drake, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu
Beth Dalbey, (515) 288-3336, Business Publications Corp., bethdalbey@bpcdm.com

DRAKE, CITYVIEW WILL HONOR SIX WITH CENTRAL IOWA ACTIVIST AWARDS

Sally Frank, a Drake University professor of law who represents many local activists in cases of civil disobedience, and an activist subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury earlier this year are among the recipients of Central Iowa Activist Awards to be presented Tuesday, Oct. 5, by Drake and Cityview, Central Iowa’s independent alternative newsweekly.

Frank will receive the Central Iowa Activist Award for Civil and Human Rights. An outspoken advocate for the protection of civil liberties, Frank is the faculty adviser for the Drake chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. In February Drake was served with a federal grand jury subpoena ordering the University to answer questions about an anti-war conference sponsored by Drake and the National Lawyers Guild and to release the names of students involved. The subpoenas attracted a massive national response and were withdrawn.

Catholic Peace Ministry Executive Director Brian Terrell, also targeted by federal officials for his role in the anti-war conference, will receive the Central Iowa Activist Award for Peace. Terrell has dedicated his life to the work for peace and has regularly been willing to risk his freedom in the pursuit of nonviolent change.

Other honorees include Creative Visions founder and Des Moines school board member Ako Abdul-Samad, the winner of the Education and Youth Advocacy Award; longtime Des Moines neighborhood activist Bob Mickle, the winner of the Neighborhood and Community Award; and LaVon Griffieon, one of the founding members of the land-preservation group 1000 Friends of Iowa and president of its board of directors, the winner of the Environmental Activism Award. The winner of the final award, the Central Iowa Activist Award for Student Activism, will be announced at the ceremony. Nominees include students from Drake, Grand View College, Iowa State University and local high schools.

The awards ceremony will be held at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street and University Avenue. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and a reception will follow the awards presentation in Levitt Hall. Former Des Moines Register columnist Donald Kaul, whose column appears weekly in Cityview, will make a cameo appearance.

"It is indeed fitting that Drake University is again the host of this important event," said Drake President David Maxwell, "for the role of colleges and universities in America is — in essence — one of institutional activism — encouraging people to speak out, to see things in new ways, to seek the truth and, ultimately, to serve the best interests of the community."

The awards, part of the umbrella Cityview Activists Project, breathe life into the newspaper’s mission statement, “An agent of change raising social, moral and political issues to increase community awareness and action,” said Connie Wimer, president of Business Publications Corp., which publishes Cityview.

Beth Dalbey, BPC’s editorial director, said the awards recognize the work of activists whose work is “always painstakingly slow, often unpopular and sometimes dangerous.” The Cityview Activists Project, she said, is designed to highlight the work of advocates for change and to stimulate a communitywide conversation on issues that prevent some individuals from enjoying the full benefits of society.

The Des Moines law firm of Parrish Kruidenier Moss Dunn Boles Gribble & Cook is a presenting sponsor of the awards.

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