Former New York Times columnist and frequent television commentator David Brooks spent his Monday morning on Morrissey Boulevard, where he offered the inaugural lecture for the Edmond D. Villani ‘64 Institute for Civil Discourse at Boston College High School.
The newly established forum institute’s mission is to encourage BC High students to engage seriously in public dialogue. It will be offered next year as an English course for seniors. Modeled after a first-year college seminar, the class will participate constructively in civic life through research, clear expression, and respectful engagement with opposing viewpoints.
“When you make a gift like this, you do it because you want to make a difference,” said Villani, who was present for Brooks’s talk. “I’ve noticed in recent years that we need to repair democracy. We don’t have civil discourse in the country, or there’s very little of it. I thought a great place to start is at high school.”
After being introduced by BC High President Grace Cotter Regan, Brooks spoke for about an hour to some 1,300 students across grades 7-12 in a packed McNeice Pavilion.
“Grace used a word that’s very important to me, and that word was ‘formation,’” he said. “When you come to a school like this one, you not only get an education but you get a formation which is about forming your heart and soul.”
The 64-year-old Brooks, who now writes for The Atlantic and is a fellow at Yale University, added: “That’s important to me because if you are a citizen of a democracy and you have to argue with people you disagree with and find awful, you have to have a strong heart and soul. You have to be a secure person.”
When it comes to discourse, Brooks said there are two levels of every conversation: the subject and the “under conversation,” which he defined as “the flow of emotions going between us as we speak. With every word you give to somebody, you are either making them feel more respected or less respected, more safe or less safe.”
He clarified that “it’s that under conversation, the emotional conversation, that’s the more important of the two. To be a citizen in a democracy, you have to be psychologically and spiritually strong.”
For Brooks, some of that strength is rooted in love. “What are you loving right now?” he asked. “Love is not an emotion; love is a motivational state. When you are in love with things, you’re going toward those things, you’re trying to serve those things.”
And, he noted, it’s that love that leads people to their passions. Brooks said he loves his family and friends, God, America, Bruce Springsteen music, the New York Mets, and, of course, writing. “You’re not going to be a good democratic citizen if you’re not pointed to transcendent infinite goods.
“Today, life is a struggle of good and evil. It’s between yourself, those bright passions, the desire for respect, belonging, justice, fairness, and meaning, are fighting within yourself, dark passions,” he said. “The people and the political leaders who try to whip up the sinful passions – hatred, anger, envy, resentment, the urge to dominate. We all have within us an urge to exercise power over others, which we use in manipulative ways.
“The health of your life and the health of our democracy depend on nurturing the bright passions and trying to damp down the evil ones. These days, that’s hard.”
For her part, Cotter Regan said the new program “marks an important, hopeful moment in the life of our school, an opportunity to deepen our commitment to thoughtful dialogue, intellectual rigor, and the formation of young men who can engage the world with both conviction and humility.
“At BC High, we believe education is not only about what students know but also how they think, how they listen, and how they encounter others.”
She continued, “In the Jesuit tradition, we seek to form men who can engage complex questions with clarity, charity, and courage. Men who are open to truth, attentive to others, and grounded in a sense of purpose. The Villani Institute is an expression of that mission. A space where ideas can be explored, debated, and understood in a spirit of respect and genuine inquiry.”
After he spoke, The Reporter caught up with Brooks, who said, “I hope I gave them some advice on how to find what to do with their lives. I meant to give them a series of steps to think about what’s in your heart to spend your life doing. How to find your calling and live with meaning.”
He suggested that the students follow four steps to do just that: Secure a base, return to your childhood, have three adventures a decade, and live open-heartedly.
