In a March 24 Ath talk equal parts funny, serious, and inspirational, David Brooks spoke about passion and purpose and finding that essential thing you’re meant to do in this life—the ruling passion of your soul. A leading cultural and political commentator, Brooks contextualized his advice in “my version of conservatism,” which emphasizes the importance of “sentiments”—for instance, emotion and passion—over reason, and above all, sentiments rooted in a moral ecology. “Conservatism gave me access to a worldview that transcended politics. It was about all of life, but what a good life looks like, what knowledge is, what moral beauty looks like, how to be a decent person,” said Brooks, a longtime New York Times op-ed columnist turned staff writer at The Atlantic. Offering suggestions for how to find your calling, Brooks asserted that “whether it’s a hobby or a career or a vocation, you’re looking for things to love.” “You want a poetic frame of mind: What do I love? What has delighted me? What gives me joy? And you have to have a capacity to be seized. You have to be willing to swoon.” Among his tips, Brooks encouraged revisiting childhood interests, finding a secure base, and taking three trips a decade: “Go to a lot of different places, experience things…you can’t speculate your way into a calling.” Earlier in the day, he spoke to a gathering of CMC’s most loyal supporters at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Introducing Brooks, President Chodosh highlighted the shared commitment to core values in responsible leadership at CMC and in Brooks’ writing: “Leadership built on strong individual character, leadership that serves the well-being of the people around us, and leadership that focuses on building strong, trusting, respectful relationships.” Read more about David Brooks' CMC appearances through our profile link.

Claremont McKenna College will celebrate its 78th Commencement Ceremony and the Class of 2026 on May 16 with Akshata Murty ’02 and The Right Honourable PM Rishi Sunak MP as joint keynote speakers. From 2022-2024, Sunak’s tenure as the 57th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was marked by a return to economic stability and forging a global leadership position in new technologies. During her time living in Downing Street, Murty (an Economics and French major at CMC) launched Lessons at 10, an initiative providing students across the United Kingdom with the opportunity to visit No. 10, learn about its history, and bring education to life with the help of inspiring guests and experts. The pair also recently established The Richmond Project, a philanthropic organization in the United Kingdom determined to break down barriers to numeracy across all ages. “Individually and as a team, Akshata and Rishi exemplify responsible leadership. From Rishi’s service to the United Kingdom as Prime Minister and a current Member of Parliament, to Akshata’s support of young entrepreneurs, education, arts and sciences, and varied philanthropic causes, they have both made a significant impact on business, government, and the professions,” said CMC President Hiram Chodosh. “We are moved by their selfless leadership, generous support, and close friendship to so many throughout the CMC community. It is an honor that they will be joining us for this special Commencement celebration.” CMC’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, at Pritzlaff Field. Link in bio.

For 10 years, CARE Center staff and student fellows have provided CMC students not only with a warm, supportive haven, but also resources and services that deepen student engagement, stimulate leadership development, and foster constructive dialogue. Throughout a recent celebration at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum, key voices from the CARE Center’s history reflected on the center’s evolution, as well as on the resounding impact their collaborative work sustains today across the CMC community. Nyree Gray, Vice President for Human Relations and Chief Civil Rights Officer, and Vince Greer, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs for Dialogue and Diversity, jointly welcomed the audience who included alumni, current students, faculty, and staff, as well as President Hiram Chodosh, Priya Junnar, and Jil Stark ’58 GP’11. The Earth Tones, a 5-C a cappella group, literally set the tone for the celebration with an exhilarating medley of songs, culminating with “Stand By Me,” whose lyrics illuminated the evening’s inspiring theme. Greer, who joined CMC in July 2016 to lead the CARE Center—an acronym of Civility, Access, Resources, and Expression—as its inaugural director, credited students as “the heartbeat of the CARE Center." He emphasized that a core objective of CARE Center programming is to encourage student success anchored in responsible leadership and constructive dialogue. The evening also celebrated President Chodosh’s role in CARE’s origins, which Gray described as “salient from the beginning.” In his remarks, President Chodosh acknowledged that while there will always be new challenges to navigate in the world, there is so much to celebrate and be proud of at CMC, thanks to the CARE Center as a powerful example of openness and curiosity. He quoted from the national press recognizing CMC for its programming: In a time when many institutions retreat into partisan bunkers or ivory towers, Claremont McKenna is quietly building a new kind of academic community, one that invites more voices in, asks the hard questions, and prepares students to live in a fractured world. President Chodosh concluded: “That, folks, is CARE.” Tap 🔗 for more. ,

Congratulations are in order for CMC’s Open Academy for earning a second major grant award this year that will enhance programming and initiatives across campus. With the $300,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF), CMC plans to design new academic curriculum emphasizing Open Academy values of constructive dialogue, freedom of expression, and viewpoint diversity. Through the development of courses and modules, the goal is to further enrich classrooms with challenging discussions, while simultaneously teaching students the skills to engage in these conversations with respect for their peers, said Ioannis D. Evrigenis, Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics and Director of The Open Academy. "We are very grateful to the AVDF for their support and excited to work with faculty and students to think seriously and systematically about how to best facilitate thoughtful dialogue and respectful debate from a variety of viewpoints into our curriculum," Evrigenis said. Previously, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a $2.4 million grant, spanning 2026-2029, which will enable CMC to sustain and expand Open Academy efforts locally and across the country—a testament to the College’s national leadership in approaching the principles of The Open Academy comprehensively. Full story linked in bio.

Congratulations to Professor James Kreines, who has been awarded a 2026 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship. With an average of around 1,000 annual applications, Kreines claimed one of 25 fellowships awarded this year. His project, “Nothing Halfway: German Idealism from System-Critique to Hegel’s System, and Back,” draws on his interest in historically and culturally “distant” philosophy and its capacity to still inspire new ways of thinking—especially when a “productive friction” is fostered between opposing philosophies. “That’s what’s most exciting to me—to look far away to help open possibilities to move forward in new ways. And that requires suspending prejudice on behalf of what’s close to us for long enough to take other ways of thinking seriously, and then bring these things into tension without a pre-assumed view about who’s right and who’s wrong, and who’s better and who’s worse,” said Kreines, the Edward S. Gould Professor of Philosophy and an expert in the history of European philosophy, especially metaphysics. Aiming to dispel such views about late 18th- and early 19th-century German philosophers—from Kant to Hegel—Kreines aims to purposefully “orient around a conflict, like tectonic plates rubbing against each other and pushing up mountains.” “And one thing in particular—the descendants of divergent forms of philosophy don't always talk closely together today, and through my book, I'm looking to contribute to fruitful dialog between extreme positions in German philosophy.” Kreines’ NEH Fellowship award also follows the release of his newest book, "Hegel and Spinoza," which was recently celebrated in CMC’s Gould Center for Humanistic Studies.

Welcome back from Spring Break! ☀️ Hope to "catch" up with you soon! (📸 @chad2congo)