![Nelson Hall Resident Director Kendall Engelke Davis looks over to see what Resident Assistant Chloe Smith paints. For her weekly 8 p.m. staff development meeting in Nelson Shack April 16, Engelke Davis held a watercolor event to relieve stress. “It’s a unique opportunity to get to really invest and be in [RAs’] lives,” Engelke Davis said, “which I consider such a privilege.”](https://thebuclarion.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/041624_KendallEngelkeDavis_Holland_05-1200x800.jpg)
By Lindsey Micucci
The Johnson Center for Journalism and Communication welcomes New York Times journalist David Brooks, Sept. 25, who’ll be sharing the inside workings of his best selling book, “The Road to Character.” Brooks claims that one of society’s issues is the growth of narcissism and the enlarged view of self-importance, the cure being to reevaluate our moral values as we live our lives conjointly in this world.
In the ‘resumé’ obsessed society that we live in today, Brooks calls us to focus deeper into our ‘eulogy virtues’ instead– qualities about ourselves that make us good at our jobs versus the ultimate reality of wanting to be known for our sense of character and our life-long impact on others.
When asked about the reason for Brooks’ visit to Bethel, Ripley Smith, Department Chair and Professor of Media Communication and member of the Johnson Center answered saying,
“In my opinion, [Brooks] is one of the more thoughtful social commentators who doesn’t reject religion out of hand… He’s speaking into contemporary culture and by the Johnson Center inviting him to come to Bethel, Bethel is saying, “We want to be a place to have thoughtful conversations, to bring in the whole community not just believers, so that we can take up a leadership position in conducting conversations about these difficult issues of our age.”
Brooks, who started working for the New York Times in 2003 as an op-ed columnist, is also known for his role as a political commentator on PBS NewsHour, NPR’s All Things Considered and NBC’s Meet the Press. His writings have appeared in the New Yorker, Forbes magazine, Atlantic Monthly and many other publications.
Prior to David Brooks’ speech, his wife, Anne Snyder, who worked with him on “The Road to Character,” will be speaking at Monday’sConvocation, giving a speech on immigration entitled, “Strangers in a Strange Land.”
The David Brooks’ event will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 25th in Benson Great Hall. Tickets are free but must be reserved prior to the event. Tickets can be claimed on the event’s website.