October 14, 2009

BCU to Host Frank LaMere – Activist for Native Americans, Environmental Causes

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Briar Cliff University will host Frank LaMere, who will present “A Spiritual Approach to the Environment,” at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009, in the Saint Francis Center in the Stark Student Center on campus.  This free event, which is sponsored by BCU’s Sister Ruth Agnes Ahlers Endowment, is open to the public.

A member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, LaMere is a noted social and political activist from South Sioux City, Neb. He has long been involved in efforts to empower Native people and others on matters important to quality of life and protection of the environment.  

Among his many efforts to protect the environment, LaMere has consulted with Earth, Energy and Environment of Kansas to develop a "no net loss" social and energy policy for Tribes and First Nations in the U.S. and Canada. He also has consulted with Air, Soil and Water Inc., a Native American-owned company specializing in environmental cleanup.

Currently, LaMere is assisting with the development of the Four Directions Center in Sioux City. He continues as the architect of the effort to stop the illegal flow of alcohol from Nebraska onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where no alcohol is sold. 

The Sister Ruth Agnes Ahlers Endowment honors Sister Ruth Agnes, who was a longtime faculty member at Briar Cliff.  From 1967 until 1995, Sister Ruth taught theology at Briar Cliff.  She died in 2006 at the age of 89.

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,100 students from 28 states.  Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care and compassion. For more information, please visit briarcliff.edu.

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