Big-name activists and folk singer Iris Dement will be showcased at the national Campus Greens convention this week on the Kansas University campus.

Keynote speakers include Tom Hayden, the former California lawmaker and ex-husband of Jane Fonda. Hayden gained national attention as an anti-Vietnam War protester arrested outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Hayden will be among the speakers at a rally at 7 p.m. Friday at the Lied Center. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $8 for KU students and $12 for others in advance, and $15 at the door.

Hayden has been active in several movements since the 1960s, including fights for more rigorous environmental regulations. He served as a state legislator in California from 1982 to 1999, fighting against sweatshops and university tuition increases and for public school reform.

“He’s got such a diversity of experience in the anti-war movement, environmental movement and as an elected politician,” said Kyle Browning, a May 2002 KU graduate and convention coordinator. “He worked on these issues from lots of different perspectives.”

Others scheduled to appear at the rally are Vernon Bellecourt, co-founder of the American Indian Movement; Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange; C.T. Vivian, a civil rights activist since the 1950s; Michael Bronski, a well-known activist for gay and lesbian causes, and Mike Oxford, executive director of the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, and Dement.

The rally is part of a four-day “Justice Across Generations” convention that begins Thursday for Campus Greens, which is affiliated with the national Green Party. About 400 high school and college students are expected to attend. Most events are at the Kansas Union.

Topics include leadership development, fund raising, electoral reform, campus politics, corporate influences on education, sustainable agriculture and art in activism.