DANIEL K. INOUYE INSTITUTE TO PRESENT LECTURE ON SPIRIT OF SERVICE AND IDEALISM

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Netflix CEO Reed Hasting to Lead Discussion

News Release from Daniel K Inouye Institute, May 8, 2017

To perpetuate the legacy of the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s commitment to public service and civil engagement, the Daniel K. Inouye Institute (DKII) Fund, a program of the Hawaii Community Foundation is proud to announce that the Library of Congress will be hosting the third annual Daniel K. Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series on Thursday, May 18.

“Inspiring a Sense of Service and Idealism,” will be led by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, former director of the Peace Corps, and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, a former Peace Corps volunteer, who will reflect on their experiences and discuss the need for a spirit of service and idealism. Ann Compton, former ABC News White House correspondent, will moderate the event.

The event on May 18 will be held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and live streamed locally at 12:30 p.m. at two locations: the William Richardson School of Law, at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center (600 ‘Imiloa Place) at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. All events are free and open to the public. The lecture can also be viewed online at the Library’s Facebook page and YouTube page or followed through live tweets via the Kluge Center’s and Inouye Institute’s twitter accounts: @KlugeCtr and @DKIInstitute using the hashtag #Inouye.

This third lecture, in a five-year series, will focus on the evolution of the Peace Corps and how its ideals are still relevant today. In recognition of President John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday, the lecture was planned in collaboration with the Kennedy Center and the Peace Corps to focus on the values of service to the country and cause of peace, values which were held dear by both Inouye and Kennedy.

The lecture series is made possible through a generous donation from the Daniel K. Inouye Institute. Each year the lecture focuses on one theme that reflects Sen. Inouye’s legacy of public service and civic engagement. The full lecture series may be accessed on the Library of Congress website and video segments in downloadable learning supplements are posted to www.danielkinouyelectures.org. The Senator’s congressional papers are also to be made digitally accessible through an agreement between the Inouye Institute and the Library.

Inouye served as Hawaii’s first U.S. representative and then as U.S. senator for nearly half a century. A member of the Senate Watergate Committee and chairman of the Senate Iran-Contra Committee, he was a long-time member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he chaired from 2009 to 2012.  Sen. Inouye died in 2012. A veteran of World War II, Inouye was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his military service and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, becoming the first senator to receive both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.

The Daniel K. Inouye Institute was established in 2013 to preserve Inouye's papers and tell his life story; support STEM education, civics learning and educational-cultural exchanges; and establish a repository of the Asian American/Pacific experience. For further information, visit www.danielkinouyeinstitute.org.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 160 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

With 100 years of community service, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) is the leading philanthropic institution in the state. HCF is a steward of more than 800 funds, including more than 200 scholarship funds, created by donors who desire to transform lives and improve communities. In 2016, HCF distributed more than $47.6 million in grants and contracts statewide, including $4.7 million in scholarships. HCF also serves as a resource on community issues and trends in the nonprofit sector. For more information, visit www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org.

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