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Q&A CAMPUS TREES ���
George Will came to Elmhurst on March 9 to explore the political argument today.
Before giving this year’s Rudolf G. Schade Lecture on History, Ethics and Law, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, commentator and author George Will spoke with Prospect about his work, his advice for college students and his outsize book habit.
What do you want people to learn from your lecture?
Nestled near Dinkmeyer Hall are two seven-son flower trees. Named for the way its buds cluster in groups, the seven-son produces lovely jasmine-scented blossoms in late summer, followed by spectacular red seedpods in the fall.
I hope they’ll take away an understanding of the complexity of a modern society, the trade-offs and choices we make in policies, and the necessity to think clearly about the things we embrace. Freedom, equality, justice—these are complicated issues and don’t lend themselves to bumper stickers or simple slogans.
which is survival of the briefest and doesn’t last. I’ve published eight collections of my columns—they’re between hardback covers and they’re in libraries, and they’ll be around for a while.
When did you feel the most optimistic
What are you reading for pleasure?
about where our country was headed?
I’m addicted to audiobooks. I get up every morning at 5:20 and by 5:21, I’m listening to a book. I go through 100 books a year and just finished an 80-hour book—(Winston) Churchill’s enormous, million-word biography of his ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough. And I’m about to start another biography of one of my heroes, James Madison, by Jay Cost.
From 1980 to 2000—the country had put away the Cold War without a shot being fired, had lightened the weight of government, and had brought about a huge explosion of economic creativity and wealth creation. It was before the rise of identity politics and the festival of easily rubbed-raw sensitivities that are threatening to paralyze our society and extinguish the free exchange of ideas.
students today about how to make the What aspect of your work do you
most of their collegiate experience?
enjoy most?
Read. Read books. For all the chatter about new media, books remain the primary carriers of ideas, and only ideas have large and lasting consequences on humans.
I love to write. There’s a physical pleasure in putting together sentences and paragraphs. It’s much more satisfying than being on television,
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What advice would you give to college
