Meghan Harmening | Staff Writer

Recently, Buena Vista University announced the 2016 laureate to speak as a part of the American Heritage Lecture Series. Former Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA Leon Panetta will be lecturing to the student body, alumni, and donors on Friday, October 7, 2016.

On March 30 the Events Committee of Faculty Senate announced that Captain Thomas Gorman, Assistant Professor of Military Science, has been named the moderator for the 2016 American Heritage Lecture Series. They also announced the appointment of Andrea Frantz, Associate Professor of Digital Media; Thom Bonagura, Assistant Professor of Biology; Nathan Backman, Assistant Professor of Computer Science; and Brad Best, Professor of Political Science, who will serve as AHLS coaches.

Currently, the application process is open for students who wish to be part of the panel who will question Panetta during the first part of the lecture in October. More information on the panelists’ duties and how to apply will be given at an informational meeting on Tuesday, April 12 at 11 a.m. in Forum 4. The opportunity is open to all students, and the faculty group will review applications as they come in.

According to Gorman, once selected later this spring, the student panelists will meet on a weekly basis this fall to draft questions to ask Panetta at the event.

“We’re looking for a broad distribution of talent across the university – with six student panelists and two alternates,” Gorman said.

Gorman and Frantz both said they are excited to begin the process and about the selection of Panetta as this year’s laureate.

“If you think about the nature of his career, what he has seen, what he has had a hand in, this man has so much insight into American and world history. The insights he can offer us are exceptional: how diplomacy works or doesn’t work; international relations, especially in this time of friction and tensions with respect to ISIS and relations with the Taliban,” Frantz said. “This man has an up close and personal understanding of all of that. Safety, security, privacy, all are things this man can shed a great deal of light on.”

Gorman added that the opportunity for BVU students and community to attend the event and hear his insights is valuable.

“I think it is awesome someone with the type of access Panetta has can provide insight to our students that is indispensable, cannot be duplicated, and has much more meaning than simply reading it,” Gorman said.

Gorman and Frantz emphasize that this not only is this a once in a lifetime experience for the panelists, but for the student body as well. It is not often one gets to be within feet of someone this influential to United States’ history, let alone hear him speak. Panelists will be tasked with asking pertinent questions which the entire student body can all benefit from.

“We’re really looking for students who have a thirst for knowledge, and a curiosity about not only Secretary Panetta, but also his insight into some of the more pivotal world situations he was a part of,” Gorman said.

“I’m looking most forward to working with the students and all of us reading his book, talking about some of the issues, and brainstorming for questions. I’m very excited for this process because I know the students we choose are going to be very genuinely curious in learning. For a teacher that’s really an exciting thing to be engaged with,” said Dr. Frantz.

The informational meeting on becoming a student panelists will be April 12 at 11 a.m. in Forum 4.