(Washington, DC) – On Tuesday, April 22, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) brings its collegiate program, the American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability, to Stanford University.

The Tour stop features whistleblower Kathryn Bolkovac discussing U.N. peacekeepers’ involvement in human trafficking and forced prostitution. White House whistleblower Rick Piltz will explain how the George W. Bush administration censored climate science reports intended for the public and Congress.

GAP’s Tour educates the public – particularly university students – about whistleblowers and whistleblowing. This event, like all Tour stops, features a moderated discussion with newsmakers. Details of the discussion are:

American Whistleblowers: Essential Voices for Accountability
Tuesday, April 22
7:00 p.m.
Law School, Paul Brest Hall
Munger Building 4
555 Salvatierra Walk
Stanford, CA 94305

The event is free and open to all. The Tour stop is sponsored by GAP, the Bowen H. McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, and the Office for Religious Life.

Speakers

Kathryn Bolkovac is a former Nebraska policewoman who served as an International Police Task Force human rights investigator in Bosnia. In this capacity she discovered U.N. peacekeepers’ involvement in human trafficking and forced prostitution. Bolkovac was fired after disclosing her findings and she fled the country out of fear for her safety. Her exposure of these gross human rights violations forced the United Nations to remove numerous peacekeepers, but she lost her own job in the process. Bolkovac successfully sued her employer, and her story is the inspiration for the 2011 film The Whistleblower starring Rachel Weisz.

Rick Piltz is a former senior associate in the coordination office of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. In 2005, he exposed the White House’s censorship of reports to be released to Congress and the public about global warming. GAP, which represented Piltz, released reports to The New York Times documenting the actual hand-editing. White House Counsel on Environmental Quality Chief of Staff Philip Cooney, a lawyer and former climate team leader with the American Petroleum Institute, was responsible for attempting to downplay the reality of human-driven global warming. This scandal sparked a media frenzy that resulted in the resignation of Cooney, who found a job at ExxonMobil days later.

Dana Gold is GAP Senior Fellow and Director of the American Whistleblower Tour. A recognized expert on whistleblowing, Gold has worked since 1995 with occupational truth-tellers who have disclosed fraud and serious threats to public health, safety, and the environment on the Trans-Alaskan pipeline, at several Superfund sites, and at contractor-operated nuclear facilities such as the Hanford site in Washington state. She has also taught whistleblower law and corporate governance as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law, where she also served as director of its Center on Corporations, Law & Society.

Stated Gold, “We are excited to bring these whistleblowers to Stanford. Students will get the chance to learn how an individual’s choice to take action consistent with their own ethical compass can serve the greater good of society. For students who will be in future positions of leadership and responsibility, the message of the importance of living a life of integrity and courage is invaluable.”

About the Tour

GAP’s American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability educates the public – particularly university students – about whistleblowers and whistleblowing. A full description of the Tour can be found at www.WhistleblowerTour.org.

The Stanford University stop is the ninth of 10 to be held this academic year. Previous 2013-14 stops have included Syracuse, Florida International, American, West Virginia, Auburn, Princeton, USC and Temple. After Stanford, the Tour will conclude its season at West Chester University.

GAP secures some of the most prominent whistleblowers in American history for its Tour. Previous whistleblower presenters have included Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers), Frank Serpico (NYPD) and Sherron Watkins (Enron).

Goals of the Tour include raising awareness about the vital role whistleblowing has in our democracy, preparing America’s youth for ethical decision-making, countering negative connotations associated with whistleblowing, connecting prospective whistleblowers to available resources, and encouraging academic studies of whistleblowing.

Contact: Dylan Blaylock, GAP Communications Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 137
Email: [email protected]

Government Accountability Project
The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

###