FIC DECEMBER PROGRAMS
December 2, Monday Quarterback Luncheon – 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Franklyn Rodgers is our Quarterback.
December 5, Thursday Luncheon Roundtable – 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Speaker is Exequiel Hernandez. His topic – The I Word: Fears and Facts About Immigration
Immigration might well take first place in a contest for most toxic word in this year’s electoral lexicon. It was used to create a narrative of threat – to our economy because immigrants steal our jobs, to our way of life because they change our culture, and to our safety and laws because of their criminality. In nearly 20 years of research, Wharton professor Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez has found that data not only debunks this threat narrative, but also shows the benefits of immigration to economies and societies through investment, innovation, job development, cultural vitality, and national security. He will discuss his work and his recently published book, The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers (St. Martin’s Press, 2024).
Zeke Hernandez is the Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor at Wharton. His research on the linkages of immigration with investment and economic growth has earned emerging scholar awards from the three major academic associations in his field.
December 9, Monday Quarterback Luncheon – 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Seth Schwarzman is our Quarterback.
December 12, Thursday Luncheon Roundtable – 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Speaker is Michael Matza. His topic – What’s Next for Haiti?
Overshadowed by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, where does Haiti’s lethal lawlessness rank as a global concern? Long before the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise triggered an explosion of gang violence, the country struggled with political corruption, despotic rule, poverty, natural disasters, anarchy, foreign meddling, military occupation, and its history of enslavement. In the three years since Moise’s assassination, an upsurge in gang attacks has killed more than 12,000 people and displaced more than 700,000. Extortion rackets and illegal roadblocks have disrupted food and fuel supplies, crippled agriculture, and forced many of the country’s 11 million people into makeshift tent camps, where they live with hunger and the risk of disease. Responding to the chaos, the U.N. Security Council in October 2023 authorized the creation of a Multinational Security Support Mission to help Haiti’s dysfunctional government and outgunned National Police Force. Where does that effort stand?
Michael Matza, a veteran foreign correspondent of the Inquirer, reported from 34 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, with multiple assignments in Haiti. He will provide his current perspective on the country and give a brief reading from his 2023 novel, Haiti, Love and Murder in the Season of Soup Joumou. The book was described in the Los Angeles Book Review (Susan Miller, June 2024) as “A superb and masterful story showcasing the complex issues facing a country in political and social turmoil with characters who undertake a risky mission to solve a murder.”
December 16, Monday Quarterback Luncheon – 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
Russell Cooke is our Quarterback.
December 19, FIC Holiday Luncheon – at 11:30 a.m.
Starting with Fish House Punch.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Club Recess
Friday, December 20 through Sunday, January 5