McCarthy Lecture Drawing Capacity Crowd To Hear David Brooks

ST. JOSEPH (WJON News) -- A prominent columnist and commentator is coming to St. Joseph.  David Brooks will deliver the 20th annual McCarthy Lecture.

The event is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Benedicta Arts Center on the College of St. Benedict campus.

Brooks is a best-selling author, contributing writer at The Atlantic, and recurring commentator on PBS NewsHour.

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The event is filled to capacity, but those interested in viewing it can do so via a livestream. 

Brooks hopes to stress the importance of being open to new experiences and ideas as students prepare to begin their professional lives.

“But I always try to tell a hopeful story. We go through these kinds of rough patches every 60 or 70 years in the American system of government – those moments where it feels like we’re tearing it all down. They can be really hard to live through. Yet things get better. If you look at the 1960s, we had assassinations and bombings and unrest. But by the late 1970s and ’80s, things had calmed down again. The key is finding leaders who are able to come up with innovative solutions to our national problems.”

He says he appreciates the impact the center's namesake had on American politics.  Former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy, a 1935 St. John's University Graduate, is best known for his long-shot anti-Vietnam War run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.

Past McCarthy Lecture speakers have included former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.  It has also drawn prominent national media figures like Tom Brokaw and Cokie Roberts.