Posted on Mar 2, 2006

Nobel Peace Prize winner and key player in the struggle for Solidarity in Poland, Lech Walesa, will be the speaker in the second annual Presidential Lecture Series at Murray State University. Walesa will speak on the subject of “Democracy: The Neverending Battle” on Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium. Walesa burst into the world spotlight in 1980 during the Lenin Shipyard strike in Gdansk, Poland. Workers, incensed by an increase in prices set by the Communist government, were demanding the right to organize free and independent trade unions. On Aug. 14, Walesa, an electrician who had long been active in the underground labor movement, arrived at the barricaded shipyard just as the dispirited workers were on the verge of abandoning their strike. Scaling the shipyard walls, he delivered a stirring speech from atop a bulldozer. Revitalized by his passion, the strike spread to factories across the nation. Christened “Solidarity,” the strike became a social revolution. Walesa entered into negotiations with the government, convincing it to grant legal recognition to Solidarity and the right to form independent unions. This became the Gdansk Agreement, which Walesa signed on Aug. 31. For his heroic efforts, Walesa was named “Man of the Year” by Time magazine, The Financial Times, The London Observer, Die Welt, Die Zeit, L’Express and Le Soir. Over the next 18 months, however, relations between Solidarity and the government became progressively worse until, on Dec. 13, 1981, the Polish government declared martial law. It suspended the activities of all unions and arrested thousands of Solidarity members, including Walesa. In the fall of 1982, the government officially outlawed Solidarity. Walesa was released that same fall. Under his leadership, Solidarity continued to exist as an underground organization. Celebrated worldwide as a symbol of the hope for freedom, Walesa was awarded the Nobel prize in 1983. For the next five years, the country became marked more and more by chaos and labor unrest. Acknowledging that it could no longer control the country, the government re-legalized Solidarity and invited it to join the Communist Party in forming a coalition government. In the resulting election, Solidarity won almost every contest. As the head of the Solidarity labor union, Walesa began a series of meetings with world leaders. In November 1989, he became the third person in history, after the Marquis de Lafayette and Winston Churchill, to address a joint session of the United States Congress. After his leadership aided in the end of Communist rule and the beginning of freedom and democracy in his country, Walesa was ready to take on a new role to serve Poland. On Dec. 9, 1990, he became its first democratically-elected president, winning more than 74 percent of the vote. His term in office set Poland firmly on the path to becoming a free market democracy. Through his unwavering commitment, Walesa made Poland a model of economic and political reform for the rest of Eastern Europe to follow and earned it the honor of receiving one of the first invitations to join an expanded NATO. He now heads the Lech Walesa Institute, which has as its aim the advancement of the ideals of democracy and free market reform throughout Eastern Europe and the rest of the world. Walesa has been granted many honorary degrees from universities, including Harvard and the University of Paris. Other honors include the Medal of Freedom (U.S.), the Award of Free World (Norway) and the European Award of Human Rights. Each Murray State student, faculty or staff member may pick up one free ticket to the lecture by taking their MSU I.D. to the Student Government Association (SGA) office in the Curris Center. Tickets for the general public are now on sale for $10 each. Campus faculty, staff and students may purchase additional tickets as well. Tickets are being sold in the SGA office and in the Regional Special Events Center ticket office. For more information, call (270) 762-6951. Walesa’s appearance on campus is sponsored by the Student Government Association, the Presidential Lecture Series and the MSU Foundation.