CORRECTION APPENDED

Actor James Haven came to Kirkland House’s Junior Common Room last night, bearing a message of solidarity but failing to deliver his famous sister, actress Angelina Jolie, and her partner, Brad Pitt—both of whom appeared set to attend the event earlier in the day, according to event organizers.

The attendance of the celebrity pair, who were reportedly coming to see Haven accept a designation as the International Relations Council’s Senior Honorary Advisor for 2009, was “90 percent certain” yesterday morning, according to International Relations On Campus co-director Courtney L. Blair ’10. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

But Jolie apparently became tied up with filming commitments on Long Island, which prevented her from making the scheduled appearance, event organizers said.

Haven delivered an acceptance speech focused on the imperative to serve, citing examples from Mother Theresa and Frederick Douglass.

“Use every ability you have, from the smallest to the largest, to do what you can,” Haven said, rousing the roughly 80 persons in attendance to a prolonged bout of applause.

Haven’s commentary chronicled his personal journey to find what he called “the roots of social responsibility,” presenting three concepts—communication, accountability, and need—as keys to energizing U.S. engagement in the third world.

Haven recalled how his work in a charity theater production in Ethiopia three years ago confronted him with the tragic reality of life away from the comforts of home and instilled a sense of obligation that motivated him to action, the actor said.

“My great dream,” Haven said, “is that in the next 10 to 15 years these global issues will be acknowledged.”

Yesterday’s event was co-sponsored by the International Relations Council and the Harvard Global Health and AIDS Coalition as one of the final events in Harvard’s annual International Relations Week.

Afterward, Haven responded to audience members’ varied inquiries, with some seeking his perspective on the use of condoms as HIV-preventatives and others wondering what fruit his efforts in educational reform would bear.

Haven’s presentation was not entirely smooth sailing—suffering at one point from the actor’s misattribution of the phrase “Live Free or Die” to the Massachusetts state license plate. In fact, the phrase is the state motto of New Hampshire.

Most students remained enthusiastic about yesterday’s event, despite the absence of the two star guests.

“I mean, it would have been cool if they were here, but that wasn’t the main point,” said Virginia Ng ’11, a Kirkland House resident who added that she found Haven’s memories of Ethiopian children particularly heartbreaking.

But Ng’s nonchalance was hardly universal, suggesting that, for some, Haven might not have been the main attraction of yesterday’s event.

“Angelina’s brother?” one attendee grumbled. “Are you kidding me?”

—Staff writer Edward-Michael Dussom can be reached at emdussom@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION

The April 9 news article "Brangelina Cancel, James Haven Holds Forth" incorrectly stated that James Haven accepted a designation as the International Relations Council’s Senior Honorary Advisor for 2009. In fact, Haven accepted a designation as the Harvard Global Health and AIDS Coalition's Senior Honorary Advisor for 2009.