Eboo Patel
September 18
President Jon Alger welcomed an old friend to campus to launch a new university-wide initiative: the Civic Life.
Eboo Patel, author, civic leader, and founder and president of Interfaith America, joined Alger for the inaugural event in the Perspectives on the Civic Life presidential speaker series. Their conversation offered a window into Alger’s vision for establishing AU as a national leader in civic education and engagement.
“This is an incredibly diverse institution with people from all over the nation and the globe [who have] different backgrounds, perspectives, and beliefs,” said Alger, who announced the series in July. “That diversity is a strength. We all have much to contribute and much to learn.
“We don’t expect everyone to agree; this is, after all, a university,” he continued. “But how we engage with one another matters. AU can and must be a model of how to bring diverse people together to engage in civil discourse based on facts, evidence, research, and respect.”
Patel—President Barack Obama’s former faith advisor—said civic duty transcends anything that divides us as Americans, from race and religion to politics. “‘The civic’ is that space where people of divergent ideologies cooperate—Little League, hospitals, PTAs,” he said. “You cannot have a diverse democracy if every disagreement is going to cancel a relationship.
“I want you to imagine for a second that all of the groups [in] the world who are in conflict are on your Little League team,” Patel said. “That Little League team is America, and your job is to get them to play together—because otherwise, we don’t have fire departments or paramedics or hospitals. We don’t have a nation if people who disagree on fundamental things refuse to work together.”
Guided by his 2022 book, We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy, which was given to attendees, Patel discussed how to develop relationships across differences—work the Civic Life initiative will foster on AU’s campus.
Both Alger and Patel identified higher education as a space ripe for advancing civic pluralism and serving as a model for diverse democracy. Patel and his Chicago-based nonprofit have worked with hundreds of universities to develop courses, programs, and campus-wide plans to address challenges through interfaith cooperation.
He encouraged the audience to think about this work like a potluck—a gathering around food where everyone brings their own perspectives and culture to the communal table.
“For me, it’s the perfect metaphor for American civil society,” Patel said. “It’s a play [on] the melting pot, [except that] I don’t want you to melt down your identity. I want you to bring your delicious dish.”
But that environment is only possible when individuals get engaged—and get cooking.
“You’ve got to bring a dish to a space that’s comfortable, that’s conducive to creative combinations and enriching conversations, where people feel safe, where the dishes are clean, where somebody’s going to clean up afterward,” Patel said. “Everybody is responsible for that space. That’s the civic. We want to try your dish. We’re going to expect you to be a contributor and do everything we can to reduce the barriers to your contribution. Because if you can’t come, it makes the potluck less delicious.”
Jamal Mashburn
September 27
“I realized that if I wanted to leave Harlem, it was going to be through sports, academics, or the arts. I chose sports [because] I wanted to have something to fall forward to and then transfer into a business career. That came from riding the train in downtown New York City and seeing people carrying a briefcase. It was like, ‘Wow, what’s in that briefcase?’”
The former NBA All-Star, founder and principal of Helen Holdings, and Sine Institute of Policy and Politics distinguished lecturer discussed his transition from basketball to business with Jason Kelly, Bloomberg’s New York bureau chief, during AU’s Family Weekend.
Mary McCormack
September 12
“We know how passionate Wingnuts are about the show—but also about service.”
McCormack—who played deputy national security advisor Kate Harper on the Emmy-winning political dramaThe West Wing—shared the impetus for her new book, coauthored with costar Melissa Fitzgerald, What’s Next? A Backstage Pass to the West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service. Amy Dacey, SPA/MA ’95, executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics, moderated the event.
Andrew Card
September 11
“I believe he wrestled with the responsibility he knew he had by taking the oath to preserve, protect, and defend.”
The former White House chief of staff reflected on the moment he whispered in President George W. Bush’s ear that a plane had hit the World Trade Center on 9/11. Anita McBride, SPA executive in residence and former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, moderated the event, which was sponsored by the Kennedy Political Union and the AU College Republicans.
Caroline Pham
September 26
“Impress everybody that you meet and that you work with because you never know where it’s going to lead. Today’s intern is tomorrow’s commissioner.”
The former intern with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission—who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022 to lead the agency—offered career advice and talked with students about regulating the derivatives markets. Pham came to campus as part of WCL’s Great Speaker Series and was joined in conversation by Professor Jerry Comizio, director of the Business Law Program.
Jeff Zients
October 1
“People say, ‘What is the chief of staff’s job?’ The operative word is not chief; the president is the chief. It’s staff. I’m doing my job if the president has the right team and if that team is functioning and holding each other accountable.”
President Joe Biden’s chief of staff—who recalled studying in Bender Library as a high school student at nearby St. Albans School—returned to AU to chat with Kogod dean David Marchick about how his experience in the private sector informs his work in the highest echelons of the federal government.
Brad Smith
October 9
“To invent a general-purpose technology that can change people’s lives—that can literally bring light into a dark room—and then to take 150 years before we can say we have electricity for everyone is the great cautionary tale.”
Microsoft’s president and vice chair spoke at the Kogod School of Business about the rise of the AI economy, likening the technology to the steam engine, electricity, and computers. He said AI will create new businesses and jobs and “make the planet a better place if we find new ways to work together in the spirit of not just innovation, but responsibility that the future requires.”