The College of St. Scholastica will host a free talk by Ray Suarez, PBS senior correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 13, in the Mitchell Auditorium on campus. The event is free and open to the public; doors open at 6 p.m. His talk will be followed by a community discussion, and a reception and book signing in the Mitchell foyer.

Suarez will deliver the 2008 Ida and Arthur Silver Memorial Interfaith Lecture cosponsored this year by St. Scholastica’s Oreck-Alpern Interreligious Forum and Temple Israel, along with other community interfaith and religious organizations. The lecture series was established by the Warren Silver family in 1982 to encourage interfaith dialogue.

His lecture will be based on his recent book, “The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America” (HarperCollins, 2006)

In the book he explores the polarization of America, politically and ideologically, and how, at the heart of this fracture, is a fascinating, paradoxical marriage between the country’s politics and religions.

Suarez writes: “We can’t get American religion out of politics, or politics out of religion. It’s too late for that. It would be like trying to get the sugar out of a cup of coffee. But finding a way these two behemoth institutions in American life can coexist, while respecting the convictions of believers and protecting the rights of nonbelievers and those who disagree, is the riddle we must solve.”

Suarez has over 30 years of experience in journalism. He came to “The NewHour” in 1999 from National Public Radio where he had been host of the nationwide call-in news program “Talk of the Nation.” He has also been a Los Angeles correspondent for CNN, a producer for the ABC Radio Network in New York, a reporter for CBS radio in Rome, and a reporter for various American and British news services in London.

He has narrated, anchored and reported many documentaries for public radio and television including a weekly series for PBS called “Follow the Money.”

“Ray is one of the most talented and distinctive voices working in journalism today,” said Kevin Klose, president and CEO of National Public Radio.

Suarez has been named one of Utne Reader’s “Visionaries” and one of the “100 Influentials” among American Latinos by Hispanic Business. He received the 1996 Ruben Salazar Award from the National Council of La Raza and the 2005 Distinguished Policy Leadership Award from UCLA’s School of Public Policy.

For more information contact Elyse Carter Vosen at (218) 723-6646.