A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Travis Wilson Class of 2016 By  Travis Wilson ,  Class of 2016 This fall at the McConnell Center, we have taken the opportunity as living, breathing, imaginative students to spend some time envisioning the unknowable afterlife.  One particularly interesting conception I encountered was through my independent study of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The text was an excellent read alongside the C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters , which highlights similar themes of choice in the eternal context and discusses sins which prevent the enjoyment of an afterlife in paradise.  Lewis uses the concept of a “holiday” for the damned to illustrate the choices of individuals which lead either to heaven or to hell.    Emerging on a bus from a boundless gray city to the pleasant but painfully solid foothills of heaven, the protagonist spirit is able to observe a wide variety of souls and their respective shortcomings.  Other souls meet a variety of solid hea...

Hannah Wilson Class of 2017 A fleeting memory, no more consuming than a glance inside a shop window can leave one's heart without the privilege of gravity, one's stomach as if it were chocked full of stones. It can sweep across you like a November rain, leaving spots like fat lakes on your glasses where they have fogged. Neither the sorrow held behind those lenses nor the stings of cold air ahead of them can seem to reconcile with the world as it is.  But I suppose that's the most difficult thing for anyone to attempt. There's so much to do after disaster strikes, and so little energy with which to do it. How does one begin to repair what has been utterly demolished? What is there to be done for those who sleep with one eye open like the chest of a transplant patient, and one eye closed to darkness that engulfs hour after dreadful hour of nighttime?  What do you say to the woman who walks to the corner of her street every day and sits, like a big stone in t...

Mary Elizabeth Young Class of 2016 The McConnell Scholars Program often boasts that it provides an Ivy League education at a state school.  Through seminars and lectures on philosophy, politics, history and literature, through interactions with local, national and global leaders, and international studies abroad, they fulfill this promise. However, it is always interesting to see the ways in which the ideas and concepts we are exposed to in the discussions and interactions in the McConnell Seminar Room translate to our formal education in the university classrooms. I think I speak for most McConnell Scholars when I say instances like these—when the education we are receiving as McConnell Scholars crosses with the education we are receiving as University students—cause us to “geek out.” We “geek out” because—well, we are nerdy—and because making these connections is exciting and oftentimes revealing of a deeper, broader meaning. While reading and analyzing the works of...

Katie Cambron Class of 2016 For my entire life, macaroni and cheese has been my favorite food.  However, I am quite picky when it comes to this popular American dish and no macaroni and cheese has ever compared to that which comes from my grandma’s kitchen.  I’m convinced that no one will ever live up to the expectations she has created.  As my beloved grandmother is advancing in age, I have come to the realization that someone must learn to recreate this favorite family dish.  Who better to take on this challenge than myself? A few months ago during an afternoon visit with Grandma, I told her I thought it was time I learned how to make “her” macaroni and cheese.  She excitedly agreed and was soon gathering ingredients.  There was no point in writing down an actual recipe as my grandma has always been a “dash of this and pinch of that” kind of cook.  (But hey, aren’t those always the best cooks?!)  After lots of questions and an “Oh my go...

McConnell Scholar Kevin Grout penned the following op-ed piece in The Louisville Cardinal (link to the article). Reprinted here with permission. Kevin Grout Class of 2016 Last week, a student submitted an opinion piece to this newspaper extoling the virtues of socialism. Although he admitted the evils committed during the twentieth century in the name of socialism, he contended that we fundamentally do not understand what the term means. I’m here to say this: we know what socialism is, we’ve seen its effects and we want none of it. I understand that the author of the previous opinion attempted to make a distinction between the socialism practiced by Joseph Stalin and the “democratic” socialism of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). However, what he failed to do was provide a single example where any form of socialism, “democratic” or otherwise, created a positive result. Is there one economic system of comparable size to the United States that has achieved the workers’...

Philip Moore Class of 2016 While the opening day of embassies in both Cuba and the U.S. is historic, it is only the continuation of transitional policies by the Cuban government. Throughout the past eleven months, the media has placed the emphasis on President Obama’s decision to restore diplomatic relations; however, I find it to be a much stronger exercise to view the embassy opening as another step by Cuba in its quest to relieve the immense economic and political pressure it has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Relative lack of importance in the United States In the United States, we generally view the embargo as either a Republican-Democrat issue or as a relic of the Cold War. In both cases, the perspective is shallow and lacks historical merit; for example, the current form of the embargo, the Helms-Burton Act, was signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1996. Five years after the end of the Cold War, he had the authority to end the embar...

Victoria Allen Class of 2016 The Leader Head like a big  Watermelon, Frequently thumped  And still not ripe This short poem by the perennial McConnell Center favorite, Wendell Berry, resonates to me on what it feels like to be a leader.  Perhaps Mr. Berry wrote it as someone who observes leaders, but as someone with a small measure of leadership, I feel that it is more applicable for the leader to consider.  After all, there is a reason that the caricature of a big headed, overconfident leader exists, and I cannot think of any comparison that is more apt than the watermelon.  The idea that a leader can achieve a certain standard of “ripeness,” measured by frequent “thumps,” is what is fundamentally wrong with the standard of leadership.  From my own personal experiences, I have to admit that there has always been the thought in my head that I would eventually figure things out and get the right answer; that one day (hopefully s...

Natalie Smith Class of 2016 By  Natalie Smith , Class of 2016 As an English student, I’m always interested when I come across articles defending the study of the humanities, but I have to admit that the enormous number of articles makes me wonder why the humanities needs to be defended so vehemently. If it’s truly worth studying, why does it need to be on the defense so often? I have to remember that often, the humanities are neglected due to the more immediate and tangible benefits of studying the sciences. What’s forgotten is that the value of the sciences does not belittle the value of the humanities. Philosophy, art, literature, music, language, and other related pursuits are modes of expressing the human condition. There is significant power in stories, and the humanities allow us to experience stories in several forms. They allow us to relate to humans of the past, understand the people of the present, and imagine those of the future, providing us with the essenti...

Travis Wilson Class of 2016 By  Travis Wilson , Class of 2016 I began my undergraduate career with an interest in pursuing law because of its interaction with political history.  As I pursued majors in History and Economics, supplemented by the seminars and colloquia attended as a McConnell Scholar, I confirmed the value of law as a critical tool to understanding history and business.  From that insight, I took the initiative to prepare myself for a law career in every way possible.  My studies reflect my desire to sharpen both my research and writing ability through history, and my capacity for logical thought and understanding of business through economics.  The McConnell Scholars Program has supplemented my coursework with an intense course of readings in classics, philosophy, and current events, all of which instilled in me a further appreciation of the law and its significance. Through my internship at a large regional law firm, I appreciate the rea...