Wartburg College will host its inaugural TEDxWartburgCollege event April 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the McCaskey Lyceum of Saemann Student Center.

Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for adults. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.wartburg.edu/tedx. The public is welcome.

TEDxWartburgCollege was designed to foster an innovative community at the college and in the Cedar Valley where new ideas can thrive. This year’s theme is “Embracing the Future.”

The event will feature talks from Samantha Pfab, a Wartburg sophomore from Dubuque; Shahzeb Jadoon, a Wartburg sophomore from Lahore, Pakistan; Cynthia Bane, a social psychologist and Wartburg College professor; Maria Munguia-Cortes, a Wartburg sophomore from Immokalee, Fla.; Jonah Stillman, an 18-year-old Gen Z keynote speaker; Johanna Kluck, a Wartburg junior from Bruning, Neb.; Nate Monson, executive director of Iowa Safe Schools; Anne Duncan, Wartburg’s environmental sustainability coordinator; Madalynn McKelvey, a senior from Ottumwa; and Bill Withers, a speaker in the areas of public relations, quality customer service, organizational change and leadership as well as a Wartburg professor.

All talks will be recorded and available online following the event.

Students led the charge to obtain the licensure and approval from TEDx to host TEDxWartburgCollege. TEDx events are independently planned and coordinated on a community-by-community basis. Wartburg’s lead organizer, Alejandro Salazar, is a junior from Ibarra, Ecuador.

“I really wanted to bring TEDx to Wartburg because I know so many fellow students who have amazing ideas that are innovative and indicative of the future. They deserve a space to share those ideas and be heard,” Salazar said.