Thomas J. Volpe Lecture Series

Just after learning the final fate of her husband, Daniel Pearl, Mariane Pearl made the decision that there was one way to get revenge on the terrorists that killed 'Danny', to have hope. Pearl talked about the death of her husband, the life of her son and her battle to spread hope with a standing-room only crowd of more than 300 people at St. Francis College Monday afternoon, March 10 as speaker for the Thomas J. Volpe Lecture Series in Global Business and Finance.

"After hearing about his death, I raced outside and grabbed a weapon. It felt so easy to use it," Pearl told the packed auditorium. "But, I knew the only courageous thing I could do was put it down. If I did that I could prove there was an antidote to what happened to us and that antidote is hope."

Pearl said that the experience she has lived through has made her realize the importance of wisdom over just knowledge. When combined with hope, she says terrorists can be defeated. She has made it her mission to find sources of hope and to write about them every month for Glamour Magazine. Those essays are now available in the collection, "In Search of Hope, The Global Diaries of Mariane Pearl."

Audience members asked Pearl a range of questions on topics like the movie; A Mighty Heart, based on her first book, the current situation in Pakistan, forgiveness and what she'll tell her son Adam about her father.

Pearl said that she will not forgive the terrorists and that forgiveness was not a strong enough incentive for her to keep going. She added that she doesn't hate and that allows her to be free.

As for Adam, who was born after his father was murdered, she says he already has a strong sense of who Danny was and shows signs of similar personality traits, "Adam asked me one day, 'Are you gonna teach me everything you know? Good, because I'm going to teach you everything you don't know.'"

Guest speakers of the Volpe Lecture Series bring an international perspective in a variety of fields; from business leaders to world leaders. Past speakers include Paul Rusesabagina (the real Hotel Rwanda), Lech Walesa (former President of Poland, Nobel Prize winner) and George Mitchell (former U.S. Senator, baseball steroid report).

The lecture series is funded by a generous gift from Thomas J. Volpe, a former Senior Vice President of Financial Operations for The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. Currently he is Senior Advisor at Babcock & Brown, a global financial services firm. Volpe serves as Chairman Emeritus of the St. Francis College Board of Trustees.

St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City's five boroughs and beyond.
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St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201
www.sfc.edu