Ex-quarterback-turned-social-activist Donald McPherson will speak on the topic of men’s violence against women at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, JCCC. The lecture, co-sponsored by JCCC’s department of Student Life and Leadership Development and the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, is free and open to the public.

For more than 20 years, McPherson has used the appeal of sports to address sexual and domestic violence and lead men into a violence-free lifestyle.

As an athlete, McPherson was a unanimous All-American quarterback at Syracuse University and is a veteran of the NFL and Canadian Football League. As captain of the undefeated 1987 Syracuse football team, McPherson set 22 school records, led the nation in passing and won more than 18 national “Player of the Year” awards, including the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best player, Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and inaugural Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. In 2008, McPherson was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Upon retiring from pro football in 1994, he joined Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society as National Director of Athletes in Service to America, an Americorps funded program. In 2002, he founded the Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University, for which he served as executive director until 2007.

In 1995, McPherson became director of Sport in Society’s Mentors in Violence Prevention Program, taking over for the program’s founder, Jackson Katz. He has conducted workshops for and given lectures to more than 200 college campuses, community organizations and national sports and violence prevention organizations. His programs and lectures have reached more than 1 million people.

McPherson has twice testified before the U.S. Congress and has worked closely with the U.S. Departments of Education and Defense and the Pentagon on issues of sexual violence in education and the military, respectively. He has provided commentary on numerous news programs and was featured in O Magazine and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

McPherson has worked as a college football analyst for ESPN, BET and NBC and currently provides regular expert analysis on XM Satellite Radio and is a studio analyst for Sportsnet New York’s coverage of Big East Football. In 2000, while a board member of the Nassau County Sports Commission, McPherson created the John Mackey Award, which recognizes college football’s outstanding tight end.

He has received several honors in recognition of his service, including the Frederick Douglas Men of Strength Award given by Men Can Stop Rape, Champions for Change presented by Lifetime Television, The Creative Vision for Women’s Justice presented by the Pace University Women’s Justice Center, and a Leadership Award from the National Center for Victims of Crime.

McPherson has served in a consulting and advisory capacity for several national organizations and currently serves on an advisory committee for the National Football Foundation and sits on the board of directors of the Ms. Foundation for Women.

MOCSA, the program’s co-sponsor, is the community’s only comprehensive sexual violence agency providing advocacy and support for victims of rape and sexual assault, and prevention and education services focused on youth and community groups. If someone you know needs MOCSA, representatives are available 24 hours at 913-642-0233.

For more information about McPherson’s Oct. 12 lecture, contact the JCCC student information desk at 913-469-3807.