A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Jared Thomas ('20) Once upon a time, once upon a time was the best I could come up with. Sorry to say not much has changed.             A long, long time ago, before I had a super firm grasp on how to tie my shoes, I decided, with all the pomp, circumstance and tenacity a bloated six year old has to offer, that the world would stop spinning all at once if I didn’t spend every waking minute learning how to write. When I was even littler, my Mom and Dad used to spend all the time they weren’t at work with my outsized head lolling on their laps, reading me story after story after story. I don’t know if I always understood what the words meant, but the rhythm got through to me and kept me in the world’s most comfortable set of chains.             For me, it was easy to find all the peace I needed in the beat the sounds made as they dripped out of my Mom’s ...

--> Dennis Mashindi ('21) African elephants are the largest land animals on the planet. Distinctively characterized by their long white tusks (ivory), these animals have become threatened to due poaching. Over the last century, elephants have been hunted down for their ivory. Elephants aren't the only species suffering. Due to human greed, the decline of the lion, elephant and rhino population have been blamed on the poaching industry. According to WWF, the status of the African Elephants is vulnerable and the status of the Black Rhino is critically endangered. But the issue goes beyond the poaching industry. While poaching is often perceived as the main threat to wildlife, the biggest predicament that many African countries face is the exploitation of wildlife by underground crime syndicates because of the complicated ivory/horn market crime syndicates have composed. This issue further plagues many African economies, communities and wildlife. When many c...

--> Jasmyne Post ('21) This year, I have had the pleasure of serving as the Service Chair for the McConnell Scholars. It has been one of the most rewarding parts of my college career thus far and the lessons that it has taught me about how others interact with the world are priceless. One of the main things that I have noticed as Service Chair is that scholars often have a hard time finding meaningful service opportunities for themselves. I’ve realized that students able to navigate hoop after hoop to get internships and scholarships, yet they find it exceedingly difficult to register for a volunteer orientation. This trend is not exclusive to this organization. I have been a member of several service organizations on campus and the struggle people share in finding service that fits their interests and schedule is great across the board. I have several theories as to the root of this issue, but they can all be summed up by the reality that service is hard. It ...

{Bookshelf Recommendation } Cicero on Friendship, Politics & Philosophy By  Khalil Habib, PhD Khalil Habib, PhD Cicero,  On the Good Life . (New York City: Penguin Books, 1971) Cicero is an oddity in the annals of political philosophy. He was a genuine philosopher who also practiced politics. Cicero’s  On Friendship  is a justly celebrated work on the important role of friendship of virtue to a “free way of life” ( vivere libero ). Although he is often known for and credited with introducing Platonism to Rome, his work on friendship and its importance to civic republicanism is an attempt to connect Roman politics to the thought of Aristotle, who devotes two books in the  Ethics  to the virtue of friendship. Cicero devoted his life to inspiring his fellow citizens to moral virtue through his writings, speeches, and example.  On Friendship  focuses on friendship’s importance to civic republicanism by emphasizing its capacity to foster habits ...