Heard in Assembly Hall

SOUND BITES FROM THIS WINTER’S SPEAKER SERIES

Compiled

by Sarah Pruitt ’95

Margo Walsh ’82 Founder and CEO of MaineWorks

“[When I started MaineWorks,] I took a social problem — don’t hire felons — and I said, I’ll hire felons. In order to work at my company … you have to be a convicted felon. That’s all because of Exeter — to take something that’s profoundly not right with society and address it head on.”

Joel Christian Gill Cartoonist and historian

“I got some really valid criticism where this woman said, ‘You didn’t write any stories about women.’ She was right, I didn’t. That’s what male privilege looks like. I didn’t have to think about what it was like to be a woman, so I didn’t think about it actively. Instead of arguing and saying, ‘I’m not misogynist; I have a sister and a mother and a wife,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll do better next time,’ and I started actively seeking out the stories of Black women so I could tell their stories.”

Adolphus Belk

Professor of political science and African American studies at Winthrop University

“They were received and described as gangster rappers, but [musicians] like NWA and Ice-T … said: We’re not talking about gangsterism, we’re talking about our reality. This is reality rap. And it’s not a transcript. In many ways, it’s creative writing. We’re offering a creative interpretation of some of the things that we see so that you might understand what we’re going through and maybe do something about it.”

Jane Holl Lute Security expert and former U.S. diplomat

“I was on a panel recently and they asked, ‘What keeps you up at night?’

I said, ‘That Americans will lose faith in each other.’ … We can’t take our democracy for granted. We can’t take our values for granted. We can’t take what we know to be the truth about how this country has evolved in this experiment we call American democracy for granted anymore.”

Ryan McElveen

Associate director of The Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, founder and managing director of Global Leaders of Fairfax County in Virginia

“More than any other generation before you, you believe the United States should be a more sustainable country, a safer country, a more welcoming country, and a more just country. So as you find the causes you are passionate about, remember that you can take a range of actions to reach your goals — from engaging with those in power to educating others through social media, from creating petitions to writing editorials, from protesting to starting your own organizations [and] even running for office.” E