Captain James Yee, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and former U.S. Army Chaplain, will present a lecture titled “Islamophobia: Fighting Ignorance and Promoting Peace” on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m., in the Days-Massolo Center.  The event is co-sponsored by the Days-Massolo Center, the Hamilton College Chaplaincy and the Muslim Students Association and is free and open to the public.

Yee, a Chinese-American convert to Islam, served for several years as a Muslim chaplain for the U.S. Army prisoners at Guantanamo Bay before being arrested in 2003 and detained on a Navy ship on false charges of espionage.  Yee draws on his experiences with the army to comment on Islam in America and illuminate everyday problems faced by Muslim-Americans. He published a book—For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire—in 2005 and served as an elected national delegate for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election.