Ambassador will speak about 'Haiti After the Earthquake'--UPDATED

UPDATED: Venue change and no tickets are required

Raymond Alcide Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the United States, will speak on "Haiti After the Earthquake" at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 6, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall, on the Princeton University campus. The talk is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required

Joseph has been ambassador to the United States since 2005. His talk will focus on reconstruction efforts needed in Haiti following the catastrophic earthquake that struck the country on Jan. 12. The address is sponsored by Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

"We are extremely pleased that the ambassador will be speaking at the University, and believe it will be an insightful address about the current situation in Haiti," said Christina Paxson, dean of the Wilson School. "We also are fortunate that the ambassador will have the opportunity to meet with some faculty, staff and students while he is on campus."

While not open to the public, other meetings with Joseph scheduled during his visit to the University include a discussion with faculty conducting research related to Haiti reconstruction and policy issues, a meeting with some Haitian staff members and a gathering that will include students who were involved with organizing campus initiatives in response to the Haiti earthquake.

Joseph served as head of Haiti's diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., in 1990 and was his country's representative at the Organization of American States that same year. In December 1990, he assisted with the first fully democratic election in Haiti.

Prior to his diplomatic service, Joseph spent much of his career in journalism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Joseph worked as a financial writer for The Wall Street Journal in New York and co-founded the Haiti-Observateur weekly newspaper for New York's Haitian-American community.

In the 1960's, he founded "Radio Vonvon," or "Radio Bug," which was the first radio broadcast in New York aired in opposition of the regime of Haitian presidents Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier.

At age 19, he founded Reyon Limyè (Rays of Light), the first monthly Christian newspaper in Cayes, Haiti.

Joseph is a graduate pastor from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and has a degree in anthropology from Wheaton College. He earned a master's degree in social anthropology and linguistics from the University of Chicago.

The address also will be simulcast live in Robertson Hall, Room 002. It also will be archived online at a later date on the University's WebMedia site.

Media interested in attending must e-mail Cass Cliatt by 5 p.m. Friday, April 2. Media who do not register in advance will not be able to attend the event.