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RSVP for the Freedom and Learning Forum, featuring Jose Antonio Vargas!
This semester’s Freedom and Learning forum, hosted by President Ángel Cabrera, University Life, Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education +LGBTQ Resources, and the Leadership Education and Development Office will focus on the human rights of immigrants.
On Saturday, October 20th we are pleased to share that Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist, Filmmaker, and Undocumented Immigrant, will be joining President Ángel Cabrera in a dialogue focusing on the human rights of immigrants. Don’t miss out on this incredible program.  For more info and to RSVP, visit: https://lead.gmu.edu/freedom/.  We anticipate this event reaching capacity of 500+ attendees, so be sure to RSVP ASAP! Copies of his new book, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen will be available to purchase.
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Why Jose Antonio Vargas is Captivating Audiences
Jose Antonio Vargas takes audiences deeper into his story, sharing details of his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; through his journey through America as an immigration reform activist; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hadn't seen in person in over 20 years.  With anecdotes from both his own story and the struggles of countless other undocumented immigrants in America, Vargas poignantly explores one of the most divisive questions facing our country today: how do you define "American"?

About Jose Antonio Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and a leading voice for the human rights of immigrants.  He is the founder and chief executive officer of Define American, the nation's leading nonprofit media organization that fights injustice and anti-immigrant hate through the power of storytelling.  He is the author of the forthcoming memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, to be published by HarperCollins in fall 2018.

In 2011, the New York Times Magazine published groundbreaking essay he wrote in which he revealed and chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant.  A year later, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine worldwide with fellow undocumented immigrants in a follow-up cover story.  He then produced and directed Documented, a documentary feature film on his undocumented experience.  Broadcasted on CNN and streamed on Netflix, the film received a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary.  In 2015, MTV aired White People, an Emmy-nominated television special he produced and directed on what it means to be young and white in a demographically changing America.

Among accolades he has received are: The Salem Award from the Salem Award Foundation, which draws upon the lessons of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692; The Freedom to Write Award from PEN Center USA; and honorary degrees from Colby College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.  Passionate about the role of the arts in society and promoting equity in education, Vargas is a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, and serves on the advisory board of TheDream.Us, a scholarship fund for undocumented immigrant students.

A product of the San Francisco Bay Area, he is a proud graduate of San Francisco State University ('04), where he was named Alumnus of the Year in 2012, and Mountain View High School ('00).
For more info and to RSVP, visit: https://lead.gmu.edu/freedom/.  Questions, email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.