By Olivia Krauth–
U of L’s McConnell Center kicked off it’s 25th year on campus and its “Citizens and Statesmen” free lecture series tonight.
William Allen delivered the first lecture of the monthly series, speaking on the wisdom of statesmen. Allen is a former chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights and an author.
In his lecture, Allen discussed what it takes to become a statesman, saying statesmanship is more than just being a leader. He used George Washington as his main example.
“We are merely human,” Allen said. “As such, we are not different from other humans.”
Allen first spoke at U of L in 2000. He was current McConnell Center director Gary Gregg’s first speaker in the position.
“The digs were rather different then,” Allen said at the beginning of his lecture, getting a laugh from several McConnell Scholars. “You’ve certainly risen in the world.”
At the end of his hour long lecture, Allen was presented with a McConnell Center challenge coin, modeled after the coins handed out in the military.
The non-partisan McConnell Center works with undergraduate McConnell Scholars and offers civic education to teachers and the public. They also offer strategic leadership training to the US Army. The center began at U of L in 1991, adding its first class of McConnell Scholars in 1992.
“It would be good if we could clone you and spread you about,” Allen said about the McConnell Center.
The center’s next public event will be on Feb. 12 to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Photo by Wade Morgen / The Louisville Cardinal
