Giuliani to speak at Penn

He is Time magazine's 2001 person of the year. He is the former mayor of New York City. And now, Rudolph Giuliani is coming to Penn as the Social Planning and Events Committee's Connaissance branch's fall speaker.

Just a year after Sept. 11 , Giuliani is perhaps best known for his handling of the terrorist attacks on his city. And Tim McCarten, co-director of Connaissance, said this is precisely why he believes that Giuliani is the perfect choice for Penn's students.

"He would have been a great choice regardless of what happened last year, but it is a particularly wonderful opportunity for us to bring him here because it is so timely," the College senior said. "That is one of the reasons he was at the top of our list."

And booking this list-topper, Connaissance Co-Director and College junior Lisa Pérez said, required the perfect combination of skill and luck.

"I think he was interested in speaking at a university," she said. "He could have gone anywhere, but he decided to take the offer from us, so we are pretty lucky in that sense."

Giuliani will join the ranks of past Connaissance speakers, including Conan O'Brien, Billy Joel, Madeleine Albright and Maya Angelou. But unlike these dignitaries and celebrities past, McCarten said that Giuliani's speech -- "Leadership in Difficult Times" -- will focus specifically on leadership, with a particular emphasis on the Twin Tower attacks.

"He will be talking about his leadership experiences from his entire career and how he was able to draw on [them] to lead the nation on Sept. 11," McCarten said. "This has consumed the nation for the past year and he has been at the forefront of America's consciousness about what happened last year."

P‚rez said she expects Giuliani's remarks to cover universal themes.

Sept. 11 "is something that is on people's minds by default and we wanted to bring someone who could really address it," P‚rez said. "This has been something that has affected everyone, so I think his message will be especially relevant."

But not everyone will be able hear the former mayor when he takes the Irvine Auditorium stage at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29. P‚rez said that if the ticket clamor over Billy Joel's performance last fall is any indicator, she expects the ticket lottery -- beginning at 12 a.m. on Oct. 14 and lasting until Oct. 18 -- to leave some students disappointed.

"We had a huge turnout for Billy Joel," she said. "Irvine holds about 1,300, and we had over three to four times that [enter the lottery], so we expect it to be pretty full again."

Though Giuliani's courage on and following the wake of Sept. 11 certainly heightens his appeal, he boasts a strong resume even without the national tragedy.

Graduating from New York University Law School in 1968, Giuliani entered a career of politics and public service, where he quickly rose through the New York bureaucracy. During his two terms as major of New York City, he reduced crime by 57 percent, halved welfare rolls, created jobs and reduced taxes by $2.5 billion.

The Provost's Office will join together with SPEC to present Giuliani, as it often does with big-name speakers.

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