KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 1, 2024 – Former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger will appear as part of the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium series “Democracy in Peril,” Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. in Edwards Hall. The event is co-sponsored by the University’s James R. Langevin Symposium series.

Kinzinger, now a CNN political commentator who served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was one of only two Republicans to serve on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, speaks on the importance of citizens becoming more active participants in American democracy. He is the author of Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country, published last year.

“Election Security, Election Integrity: An Evening with Adam Kinzinger,” will join Kinzinger with his former congressional colleague James Langevin for a “fireside chat.”  The two will discuss the state of American democracy, the vital role of election security, and the importance of continuing to build confidence in the integrity of elections. Kinzinger will answer questions generated by students in URI’s honors and political science programs.

“I look forward to welcoming my friend and former colleague in Congress Adam Kinzinger to the University of Rhode Island for the 2024 Langevin Symposium and Honors Colloquium,” says Langevin. “URI students will gain valuable insights about the role and impact of political polarization and populism, election integrity, and the realities of bipartisan policy making.”

Langevin represented Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. Congress from 2001 to 2023 and is a visiting scholar in URI’s Department of Political Science. Most recently he hosted former Congressman Steve Israel and former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for a discussion on the ‘Polarization of Politics in America,’ as part of the symposium series.

Kinzinger represented Illinois’ 16th Congressional District in the United States Congress from 2011 to 2022, serving as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Prior to his election to Congress, Kinzinger served in the Air Force in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and continues to serve his country as a pilot in the Air National Guard.

“As practitioners, Representatives Kinzinger and Langevin can provide firsthand insights on the events of January 6th and on threats to democracy,” says political science department chair Marc Hutchison. “Both have extensive expertise on the risks of foreign entities attempting to influence our elections and political processes within the U.S.”

Kinzinger joins the URI lecture series, which is bringing a slate of speakers to campus this year to examine current challenges to democracy in the U.S. and abroad, while many students at the University, and elsewhere, are voting for the first time this fall. Colloquium coordinators say that this year’s lecture series aims to provide a wide range of viewpoints, including a mix of journalists, academics, and practitioners.

“In a current national climate in which a sense of belonging is often derived by subscription to group-think,” says Honors Program director Karen de Bruin, “Congressman Kinzinger, a person of caliber, shows us an alternate path — the path of individual conscience, the path of moral freedom, which is the backbone of our democracy.”

Risa Brooks, a former senior fellow at West Point’s Modern War Institute, follows Kinzinger’s talk on Oct. 22 with a lecture on ‘The Role of Militaries in Democratic Decline.’

Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, the URI Honors Colloquium and ‘Election Security, Election Integrity: An Evening with Adam Kinzinger’ are free and open to the public. Registration is required. No photography or recording will be allowed for this event.

The event will also be livestreamed. Registration is required in order to receive a link.

COVERAGE NOTE: Media are welcome to attend and should contact Kristen Curry at kristen.curry@uri.edu or 401-874-5602 in order to register; however, no photography or recording will be allowed in Edwards Hall. Congressman Kinzinger will not be available for interviews.