Preventing terrorism is focus of Founders' Day speaker
Addressing and preventing domestic and foreign terrorism will be the topic of the annual Lakeland University Founders’ Day lecture.
Pardeep S. Kaleka, executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, a de-radicalization expert and a trauma-focused clinical therapist, will lead the discussion on Tuesday, February 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Event Space on the second floor of Lakeland’s Younger Family Campus Center.
This free event will be held in-person and streamed for viewing off campus. In-person attendees will be required to mask and social distance per current LU COVID protocols.
In his talked entitled “Hurt People, Hurt People," Kaleka will discuss how extremism and terrorism have seldom been addressed nor understood from a public health lens.
“In my anti-hate work over past 10 years, I have come to conclusion that our country is headed in the wrong direction when it comes to both addressing and preventing domestic and foreign terrorism,” he said.
“My presentation will highlight what we could do to build a more resilient society against targeted violence and help those who are currently entangled in the mindset of extremism themselves. I will also speak about why the need for Interfaith collaboration and understanding is crucial to addressing the concern of religious-based extremism.”
Kaleka will highlight the work of Parents4Peace, provide resources that can help families exit from hate and speak about the need for the mental health focus to terrorism.
As a first-generation immigrant from India, Kaleka has spent more than 20 years in the public arenas of law enforcement, education and social services. He has worked on issues of violence prevention and coalition-building across ethnic, racial and religious cultures, and has helped trauma survivors and perpetrators with recovery.
As a consultant, he has developed policies and practices to help mental health workers, social service practitioners, law enforcement agents and educators build healthier, safer, more inclusive communities.
In 2012, following the hate killings at the Oak Creek Sikh Temple, Kaleka founded Serve2Unite, an organization nationally recognized for bridging school and community groups. Today, he helps families steer their loved ones away from domestic and foreign violent extremism as a clinician with Parents4Peace and works towards building faith inclusivity.
Registration is available online at Lakeland.edu/FoundersDay or by contacting Bonnie Ziegler at zieglerbl@lakeland.edu or 920-565-1021, ext. 2151. For those planning to attend online, a link will be emailed to you after registering.
