Elizabeth Smart will be in the Union Grand Ballroom on Tuesday November 5 at 6 p.m. prior to the 7 p.m. dinner and 8 p.m. lecture, according to the press release from University Libraries.
Smart made headlines when she was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah home in 2002 and was found 28 miles from her home nine months later. Smart has become an advocate for change in relation to child abduction, national legislation, and recovery programs. University Libraries and its Advocates Board will host the reception where Smart will tell students and patrons about her story, according to the press release. Sara Bushong, dean of the University Libraries, said the board came up with the idea for Smart to visit when they said the speaker should be an ordinary person with an extraordinary story.
“She has a message of hope and we thought it would be a great way to give back to the community,” Bushong said.
Smart will speak to students taking classes on social issues or criminal justice courses for free at 2:30 p.m. in the Wolfe Center.
