Distinguished Speaker

Tonight we went to UTPA (University of Texas--Pan Am) in Edinburg to hear David Gergen at the Distinguished Speakers Series. We met Hardy and Judy at 6:30 p.m. to stand in line, wanting to be sure to get in. Students, faculty, and staff had priority, and community members were to be admitted at 7:20 p.m. As it happened, very few community members were in line, but we enjoyed having the time to visit with our friends.

Gergen is a Senior Political Analyst for CNN and an occasional conservative commentator for the PBS NewsHour. We don't always agree with him, but we do respect his considered and balanced approach.

His topic was "Eyewitness to Power: Leadership in America." His 2001 book is titled “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton,” so this is familiar ground for him, but he shaped his presentation to his audience of mainly young Latino college students. He drew on his personal experience in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton administrations. He also advised President George H.W. Bush in his presidential campaign.

Gergen believes that America is at a strategic inflection point, a term his friend, Andrew Grove, founder of Intel, coined to identify a point where the environment of a business has changed, and the business can either go under or change to meet the new challenges. Gergen focused his remarks on education and the need for young leaders to step up and put America first, before party and politics.

We enjoyed the speech, which was peppered with humor and personal stories.


We danced this afternoon to Jerry Story. As Jan commented, we always leave Jerry's dance in a positive mood.