Amal Clooney Talks To Over 900 At Salem State Speaker Series

SALEM, MA — International Human Rights Lawyer Amal Clooney spoke to more than 900 students and attendees of the Salem State University Foundation Inc.'s annual speaker series on Tuesday night.

Two-time Fulbright Scholar and Salem State alumna Anne Driscoll interviewed the visiting professor at Columbia University on her career experiences, which include representing victims of mass atrocities, including genocide and sexual violence, as well as the world's first trial against an ISIS member for genocide and the first case alleging complicity in crimes against humanity by a company that funded the terror group.

"What a spectacular way to cap off our 40th anniversary of the Series — with a brilliant and captivating discussion between human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and alumna and journalist Anne Driscoll," Salem State President John Keenan said Tuesday night.

Clooney represented Armenia in a case involving the Armenian genocide and was recently counsel to 126 victims of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, at the International Criminal Court. In 2021, she was appointed special adviser to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Darfur.

She was the recipient of the Gwen Ifill Award for "extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom" from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Red Sox Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz also spoke as part of the 40th Foundation Series this past spring.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)