Schools

Advisor: Students Call West 'Best Speaker We've Had'

The acclaimed author and philosopher called Chatham High's Philosophy Club "a model for high schools throughout the nation."

Dr. Cornel West gave a guest lecture to students at Tuesday morning as a guest of the Philosophy Club.

West both lectured and answered questions from students, faculty and members of the public for nearly two hours before he was interrupted by a fire alarm that evacuated the school.

Among the topics West tackled in his appearance were questions of the philosophy of race, gender, nationality, politics, what it means to be a human being, music and art. He likened Stephen Sondheim to Frank Rich and Frank Sinatra to Socrates.

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Students asked him about teachers who influenced his life, whether a person is ever beyond the hope of change, if philosophy can exist in music as well as words, the nature of human existence and what made him want to be a philosopher.

'Chatham Really Needs Someone Like That'

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Lily Smith, a co-president of the Philosophy Club which hosted West, said she studied the documentary film "The Examined Life" as a freshman, in which West makes a prominent appearance. "To have him come here after that is such a great thing. He's an amazing speaker," she said.

Jerry Saluti of the Philosophy Club said, "I think it's absolutely astounding that a person of his stature is coming here to speak to us. ... As Philosophy Club members, we're always looking for a different perspective. He's got a much more davnaced perspective than most of us."

During the Q&A, Saluti asked West whether it is ever possible for a person to achieve redemption or if people are simply products of their environments.

The question prompted a discussion on the role prisons play as centers of punishment or rehabilitation. West described an uncle whom he called a "reformed gangster" who changed his ways despite his environment or nature, but also said not everyone has that power or ability.

"There are some prisoners who can never rejoin society," he said, adding not everyone has the "courage" to change the course of their lives.

"I'm still processing his answer," Saluti said.

Grace Haley, another Philosophy Club member, said she, too, was "blown away" by West's speech. "I can't put a lot of what I want to say into words right now, and he says it perfectly, she said.

"I think Chatham really needs ... someone like West to speak here," Haley said. "I think a lot of us were too afraid to be nonconformist, and to hear him encouraging us to go out and not conform, I think we really needed that."

Fire Alarm, Then Brunch

A fire alarm, set off by construction of four new classrooms at Chatham High, evacuated the building just as lunch began. West spent the time on the green outside the auditorium surrounded by students, answering questions and smiling for pictures.

When the building was opened again, the Philosophy Club hosted a brunch in Meg Marohn's classroom. "It's a small miracle that he's here," Marohn said. "I met him through a mutual friend and asked him to come."

Marohn, the staff advisor to the Philosophy Club, said she was anxious about how West would be received by the student body at large. "The reaction was so overwhelmingly positive. ... It must be something about the way that he is so animated and friendly and loving and hopeful that he appeals to the idealist within people. But then he doesn't shy away from talking about really serious topics, and he doesn't offer false consolation as he's speaking about those topics," Marohn said.

Marohn said she was especially impressed by the questions students asked West. The first student asked him how he defined a human being. "[The student] said, 'I define a human being as mind, body and spirit. How do you define a human being?' What a great way to kick off the questions.

"I kind of wonder, do we underestimate kids?" Marohn asked. "They all have these thoughts that they think are secret, or that they think they can't share. When someone is radically honest, it makes you feel a lot more radically honest and comforted."

West was on his feet for more than three hours. After he left the school just before noon, Marohn said "we were told by several of the kids that he was the best speaker that we've ever had."

West said he was "profoundly inspired" by the school's Philosophy Club, which he called a "very unique" feature of the school. "I think this club should be a model for high schools throughout the nation. Meg [Marohn] is having the most tremendous impact on these young people."

Marohn said, "I think that he's the one having that impact."

West graduated with a B.A. and magna cum laude from Harvard University in 3 years. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University, where he currently works as a professor. He is the author of 19 books.

Click here to see a video segment of West's talk at Chatham High School.


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