Former American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen stopped by Sacramento State Thursday evening to present a lecture on the civil liberties of the U.S.

Notably the first female president of the ACLU as well as the youngest to hold the title, Strossen has been an outspoken figure on the government’s intrusiveness over the years.

Strossen said her lecture was about the difficulties American civil liberties have undergone since the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I’m mostly going to focus on the challenges on civil liberties as a result on the war on terror because those are the single most important and overarching threat to all of us, especially in ways that most people don’t realize,” said Strossen. “The only way we’re ever going to get rid of the government’s power to engage in surveillance and invade our freedom and privacy is if people are aware of it and start putting pressure on the government to stop these intrusive measures.”

As part of her lecture, Strossen said she would also touch on the tough political climate both President Obama and Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, are campaigning in.

“Unfortunately, the electoral politics seem to be much more pressuring on both Obama and Romney to take a ‘tough stand’ and I think that’s what has happened,” said Strossen. “When Obama was campaigning and when he was elected, he pledged that he would close Guantanamo (Bay), then he would close military commissions, he would oppose wiretapping of all of our phone and email communications and he reneged on all of those promises. Now, he is seen as stronger on national security and foreign policy than Romney, but that’s the price that we paid for it.”

UNIQUE Programs advisor Ajamu Lamumba said Strossen was invited to speak to Sac State students as part of commemorating Constitution Week, a weeklong celebration of the U.S. Constitution.

“Strossen’s lecture is part of the week of events,” said Lamumba. “(She) was selected as a keynote speaker because of her involvement of women’s issues and women’s rights. It’s a great selection.”

Economics senior Nick Reynosa said he was excited to see the former ACLU president speak to Sac State students on issues that affect everyone.

“I was really impressed that Sac State was able to get such a prominent figure,” said Reynosa. “As a CSU campus, I figured speakers like this would want to go to Berkeley or Stanford or Harvard, but it’s pretty cool that we were able to get someone that important and I was excited that she is able to speak to us.”

Camille Anglo can be reached at [email protected]