November 28, 2005—The Oberlin College Republicans (OCR) will present a talk by Dinesh D'Souza Thursday, December 8 th at 8 p.m. in the Oberlin Science Center's West Lecture Hall, 119 Woodland St. The lecture, "Iraq and the Dilemma of the American Empire," is free and open to the public.

"We believe that real political dialogue is long overdue on campus," says OCR President Barry Garrett. "Earlier this year, a small group of students became interested in creating a forum for Oberlin's growing population of conservatives to meet and re-organized the College Republicans. Last March, we held our first general interest meeting in years. About 25 students attended, and since then the organization has grown."

D'Souza's talk will kick off the group's first full year of activity in decades. A speaker long known for presenting controversial arguments in a thoughtful, respectful, and calm manner, D'Souza's appearance fits within the OCR's goal of initiating substantive political dialogue at Oberlin.

D'Souza is perhaps best known as the author of Illiberal Education, the first book to examine the phenomenon of political correctness. His other pivotal works include The End of Racism, Letters to a Young Conservative, and most recently, What's So Great About America? His articles have been printed in almost every newspaper in the United States and he appears frequently on news and talk shows, including Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.

D'Souza, who served as a senior policy analyst during the Reagan administration, is the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He also has worked for numerous public policy think tanks.