When Kevin Salwen’s daughter was 14, confronted by the existence of tremendous wealth next to abject poverty, she convinced her family to sell their home, move into a smaller one, and donate the proceeds to charity. Now, three years later, Salwen is on campus today talking about the need to re-examine the “relationships you make in life — with both people and your ‘stuff’– and on the power we each have within us to trigger positive change.”

Niko Kovacevic, one of the students in the CAS 100H class responsible for the speech, said, “We’re bringing him to Penn State because his philosophy concerning ethics, specifically the ethics of justice, wealth and charity, applies directly to the material our class is studying.”

Salwen’s story has been featured in venues such as The New York Times, The View, and The Today Show. Niko’s classmate, Mark Blashford, said, “I’m really excited. After learning about Kevin Salwen in class, it’s quite an opportunity to hear his philosophy in person.”

Salwen will be speaking tonight at 7PM in 112 Kern Building. Admission is free, but the class will be selling cookbooks the class made as a fundraiser for five dollars. All funds raised go towards Haitian earthquake relief.