The Presidential Colloquium series at Hope College will begin its third year with New York Times columnist and best-selling author David Brooks on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The Presidential Colloquium is a semi-annual series that brings prominent, internationally known thinkers to Hope to share their insights on the academy, leadership and global civic engagement. The Sept. 30 event, during which Brooks will receive an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) from the college, will address the theme “The Value and Relevance of a Faith-Based Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century.”
Tune in to the live stream on Wednesday, September 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Hope students may receive one free ticket with a valid student ID, and members of the college’s faculty and staff may receive two free tickets with a valid faculty or staff ID. The free tickets for faculty and staff will be available beginning Monday, Aug. 24, and for students will be available beginning Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the ticket office in the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The ticket office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
Tickets cost $10 for the general public and will go on sale on Wednesday, Sept. 2, contingent upon availability following the campus distribution. They will be sold both online at hope.edu/tickets and at the ticket office in the Events and Conferences Office.
In addition to the evening talk by Brooks, the colloquium will include a panel discussion featuring four college presidents as they explore the theme on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 3 p.m. in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall. The panelists will be Dr. Robin Baker, president of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon; Dr. Mary Dana Hinton, president of the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota; Dr. John Knapp, president of Hope College; and Dr. Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin College in Grand Rapids. The panel will be moderated by Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Admission to the panel discussion is free.
Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He is currently a commentator on “The PBS Newshour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
His most recent book, “The Road to Character,” published in April, became a number-one New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of “Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement.”
Brooks also teaches at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. He became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times.
He worked at The Washington Times and then The Wall Street Journal for nine years. His last post at the Journal was as op-ed editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in as the Journal's movie critic.
He also served as a senior editor at The Weekly Standard for nine years, as well as contributing editor for The Atlantic and Newsweek.
The Presidential Colloquium series was established in conjunction with the inaugural year of President John C. Knapp, who became the college’s 12th president on July 1, 2013. Past speakers have included Dr. Richard Carwardine, who is an internationally recognized expert on Abraham Lincoln and president of Corpus Christi College of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom; Professor H. Russel Botman, rector and vice-chancellor of Stellenbosch University; and Scott Aughenbaugh, who is a deputy director of Strategic Futures at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., at the corner of College Avenue and 12th Street.