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Speakers

Gary Yourofsky speaking before a summer class at Penn State University in 2005
Gary Yourofsky speaking before a summer class at Penn State University in 2005
» Gary Yourofsky's Bio » Résumé of Schools and Colleges Addressed » Commentary from News Media » Booking Gary as a Guest Speaker
» READ WORDS OF PRAISE FROM EDUCATORS NATIONWIDE

Gary Yourofsky is founder and president of ADAPTT (Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow), a 501(c)4 non-profit organization devoted to educating students and educators nationwide about the true meaning of animal rights. Since 1997 Gary has brought his powerful message to more than 30,000 students spanning nearly 1,100 lectures in over 130 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities nationwide. Gary combines factual information with thought-provoking prose, inspiring stories and anecdotes, quotations from Alice Walker, Pythagoras, Schopenhauer, and many other great thinkers, plus graphic footage from fur farms, laboratories, factory farms and more—all in the name of asking people to be kind to animals, and ultimately, go vegan.

Lecturing is a softer approach for Yourofsky, who has been arrested numerous times for random acts of kindness and compassion. In 1997, Gary even liberated over 1,500 mink scheduled for certain death from the Eberts Fur Farm in Blenheim, Ontario—an act for which he willingly served 77 days in a maximum-security detention center in Canada. Several attorneys, led by Donald Perkins, Esq., tried to pass a resolution in Michigan in honor of Yourofsky's actions. "We recognize that throughout this nation's history, other individuals, acting from conscience, have similarly violated certain laws and ordinances. In our own time, these same principles of nonviolent disobedience to unjust laws have been applied by such individuals as the Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., both of whom were—as was Michigan's Gary Yourofsky—sentenced to jail for their actions."

Wayne State University professor Jack Lessenberry, a former New York Times reporter who currently writes for The Oakland Press, The Metro Times and Toledo Blade, once said this about Michigan's most outspoken animal rights activist: "We murder billions of animals each year, and that's what Yourofsky has dedicated his young life to fighting. Actually, he knows he can't do much to stop it but he intends to raise our consciousness. Frankly, when I went to interview Yourofsky, I expected to meet a fanatic. Afterward, not only did I find him frighteningly sane and mostly convincing, I had the rather uneasy feeling that always comes when you realize that you are a hypocrite."

"Frankly, when I went to interview Yourofsky, I expected to meet a fanatic. Afterward, not only did I find him frighteningly sane and mostly con- vincing, I had the rather uneasy feeling that always comes when you realize that you are a hypocrite." Jack Lessenberry, Wayne State University professor

Yourofsky's inspirational actions have been covered by every newspaper, radio outlet, and TV station in his native Detroit, and by countless other media outlets nationwide. Author Charlotte Montgomery even included a chapter about Yourofsky in her book Blood Relations: Animals, Humans and Politics. Yourofsky also wrote an essay in 2004 for the first-ever book about the Animal Liberation Front. Dr. Steve Best, chair of Philosophy at UTEP, oversaw the production of Terrorists or Freedom Fighters. (Read Gary's essay online) Gary has also written, produced, and executed several voiceovers for graphic, hard-hitting TV ads that have aired in Los Angeles and Detroit. Yourofsky, 35, holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Oakland University and a radio/broadcasting degree from Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts.

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Résumé of Schools and Colleges Addressed

From 1997 through 2005, Gary gave private classroom presentations in the following schools and colleges:

University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleUniversity of Connecticut Colorado University-BoulderKent State University Bowling Green State UniversityOhio State University University of AkronYoungstown State University (OH) Antioch College (OH)Miami-Ohio University Muskingum College (OH)University of Arizona Penn State University-State CollegePenn State University-Abington Community College of PhiladelphiaCabrini College (PA) Montgomery County Community College (PA)Valley Forge Christian College (PA) La Salle UniversityUniversity of Delaware Delaware TechUniversity of New Hampshire University of Rhode IslandRhode Island College University of Texas-El PasoUniversity of Texas-Arlington University of North TexasMidwestern State University (TX) East Carolina UniversityNorth Carolina State University Halifax Community College (NC)James Madison University ECPI College of Technology (VA)Virginia Tech California State University-FresnoCalifornia State University-Long Beach San Diego State UniversityUniversity of San Diego Miramar Community College (CA)St. Mary's College (CA) Grossmont Community College (CA)California Western School of Law Lake Tahoe Community CollegeSanta Barbara Community College Santa Clara UniversityAlan Hancock College (CA) University of Central FloridaUniversity of Florida Stetson College (FL)University of Tampa Rollins College (FL)Daytona Beach Community College Seminole Community College-Oviedo (FL)Seminole Community College-Lake Mary (FL) Georgia TechGeorgia State University Oakland University (MI)Michigan State University University of Michigan-DearbornCentral Michigan University Macomb Community College (MI)Wayne State University (MI) Oakland Community College (all four campuses) (MI)University of Detroit-Mercy Eastern Michigan UniversityMadonna University (MI) Loyola-Chicago UniversityDePaul University Western Illinois UniversityNew York University SUNY-New PaltzMarist College (NY) Hunter-CUNYQueens College City College of New YorkSiena College (NY) New Jersey City UniversityUniversity of Southern Indiana St. Cloud State University (MN)University of Minnesota-Morris Westminster College (MO)Overland High School (CO) The Meadows High School (NV)St. Mary's Memorial High School (OH) Chippewa Valley High School (OH)Black River High School (OH) Deerfield Academy High School (MA)Bronx High School of Science (NY) Sterling Heights High School (MI)Eisenhower High School (MI) West Bloomfield High School (MI)Birmingham-Seaholm High School (MI) Pontiac Northern High School (MI)Mandeville High School (LA) Bell High School (CA)Indio High School (CA) Oakland High School (CA)Pacific Palisades High School (CA) South Tahoe High School (CA)Sickles High School (FL) Roanoke Rapids High School (NC)Mount Horeb High School (WI) South Tahoe Middle School (CA)Aurora Academy Middle School (OH) Emerson Middle School (MI)Pulaski Elementary School (MI) Highmeadow Elementary School (MI)

From 1997 through 2005, student groups from the following colleges arranged open-to-the-public talks:

Indiana UniversityIndiana State University University of AlbanyCornell University Queens CollegeHunter-CUNY Brookdale Community College (NJ)University of Tennessee-Knoxville University of Rhode IslandWheaton College (MA) Simmons College (MA)University of California-Berkeley University of California-Los AngelesUniversity of Southern California Tufts UniversitySan Diego State University California State University Poly-PomonaHarvard University University of MichiganHenry Ford Community College (MI) University of Missouri-ColumbiaWilliam and Mary College Virginia Commonwealth UniversityUniversity of Minnesota Midwestern State University (TX)Illinois State University Kent State UniversityUniversity of Miami-Ohio Lourdes College (OH)Muskingum College (OH) University of South FloridaLyndon State University (VT) Britton-Macon High School (MI)

From 2002 through 2003, the following schools showed Gary's speech on video: Hamilton Southeastern High School (IN), Viewpoint High School (CA), Champlain-St. Lawrence College in Quebec City, Concordia University in Montreal, Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute (Canada).

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Commentary from News Media

"They travel to schools and towns all over the country to spread their message. They cite kindness to animals as the main reason for not eating meat or animal by-products, as well as health and environmental reasons. Their style is more informational than forced down your throat. They provide the information, aiming to open people's eyes, and then let the chips fall as they may." Jennifer Heaslip, Roanoke Daily Herald, 4/28/04
"Joe Blake, an Oakland U. freshman, attended one of Yourofsky's talks and described it as 'mind-blowing.'" Susan Bromley, The Oakland Post, 2/20/02
"When Gary Yourofsky speaks about animals, things change. An intensity surrounds him, his words come fast, yet firm, his arms wave often, and he barely stops to catch his breath between sentences. For the last two years, he has been, arguably, the most recognizable and talked about member of the animal rights movement in Michigan." Cathy Nelson, The Daily Tribune, 2/27/00
"Gary Yourofsky believes we are all living in a new Auschwitz. Make that a million times worse than the Nazi death camp. The way he sees it, the vast majority of us are participants in this holocaust. Yourofsky rarely sugarcoats it. He doesn't show his videotape of a cow having her ovaries ripped out—without anesthesia—to elementary kids. Otherwise, he's proudly, defiantly, deliberately, in your face." Jack Lessenberry, Hour Detroit Magazine, 5/02
"Yourofsky believes without a doubt that the circus is an animal slavery enterprise. Animals endure vicious beatings, endless confinement with chains or cages, forced trickery and tortuous hours of non-air conditioned transportation. Last year, Yourofsky circulated a proposal to several cities asking that they outlaw circuses with animal acts. Detroit Zoo Director Ron Kagan endorsed that proposal, saying the travel and training of the animals is cruel." Kim North Shine, Detroit Free Press, 9/8/99
"Although just 29, Royal Oak's Gary Yourofsky has already experienced more than many people will, or ever will want to, in a lifetime. He's picketed prominent businesses, chained his neck to the axle of his car, been arrested at least 10 times and spent 77 days in a maximum security detention center—all in the name of animal rights. When Yourofsky speaks about animals, things change. An intensity surrounds him, his words come fast, yet firm, his arms wave often, and he barely stops to catch his breath between sentences. For the last two years, he has been, arguably, the most recognizable and talked about member of the animal rights movement in Michigan." Cathy Nelson, The Daily Tribune, 2/27/00
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Booking Gary as a Guest Speaker

Gary is available for private classroom presentations, and will do as many lectures as he can arrange in a one- or two-day period. He is also available for massed presentations for multiple classrooms in an auditorium setting. He is not interested, though, in any talks that are open to the general public unless there can be guaranteed an audience of at least 15 to 25 meat-eaters. As so many vegan/vegetarian advocates do, Gary professes that "I despise preaching to the choir."

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More speakers to come in the future...