Media Contact: Lori N. Jones, ljones@fairfield.edu, 203-254-4000 x2975
On Friday, October 2 at 8 p.m., Fairfield University’s Open VISIONS Forum will welcome Peggy Noonan, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal, as the first speaker in this season’s “Women and Leadership” series sponsored by Bank of America.
Since 2000, Noonan’s weekly Wall Street Journal opinion column, “Declarations,” has established her as one of the country’s most impactful thought leaders today. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2017. Noonan will bring her signature fair-mindedness and street-smart sensibility to the candid moderated conversation, “Finding the Moral High Ground/Challenges for USA’s Reboot” on October 2. Unscripted, Noonan will answer tough questions about the upcoming presidential election and address long-term concerns for the future of our nation.
A political analyst for NBC News, Noonan can often be found in forthright debate with government leaders and fellow journalists on Meet the Press. “Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It's how true friends talk,” Noonan said. “What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace — a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment we're in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative.”
Noonan is the author of nine books on American politics, history and culture, from her most recent, The Time of Our Lives, to her first, What I Saw at the Revolution. She worked as a special assistant and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. In 2010 she was given the Award for Media Excellence by the living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor; the following year she was chosen as Columnist of the Year by The Week. She has been a fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, and has taught in the history department at Yale University. Noonan is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and currently lives in New York City.
In this season’s virtual environment, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts remains committed to presenting Open VISIONS Forum speakers that inspire audiences and encourage dialogue. Lori N. Jones, the Quick’s director of programming and audience development, invites the community “to be a part of the conversation and gain insight from this witty and thought-provoking speaker, as Peggy Noonan shares her analysis of our nation and its leaders.” Jones noted that as Fairfield University celebrates the 50th anniversary of women on campus, “we are eager to celebrate the voices of incredible women like Peggy Noonan throughout our season.”
Peggy Noonan’s presentation, “Finding the Moral High Ground/Challenges for USA’s Reboot,” is a premier event and part of the Open VISIONS Forum’s “Women and Leadership” series, generously sponsored by Bank of America. Taking place in a virtual format, registration is $20 and available at quickcenter.com.
As the Quick Center celebrates its 30th season, the arts center is pleased to make this lecture —and eight additional premier events — FREE for Quick Center Members. Members will also have exclusive access to live chats with premier event speakers and artists, and other benefits. To become a Quick Center Member today, visit quickcenter.com or call the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.
Posted On: September 25, 2020
Volume: 52 Number: 15
Fairfield University is a modern Jesuit Catholic university rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe are pursuing degrees in the University’s five schools. Fairfield embraces a liberal humanistic approach to education, encouraging critical thinking, cultivating free and open inquiry, and fostering ethical and religious values. The University is located on a stunning 200-acre campus on the scenic Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.