Tonight, Florida State University will welcome bestselling author and commentator David Brooks to campus Sept. 10 for a conversation with President Richard McCullough exploring character, leadership, and how people can engage thoughtfully across differences.
Hosted by FSU’s Institute for Governance and Civics, the event will begin at 6 p.m. at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.
Brooks has spent decades writing about American life, institutions, relationships, and the qualities that shape individuals and communities. The author of books including “The Road to Character” and “How to Know a Person,” Brooks joined The Atlantic as a staff writer earlier this year and serves as Yale University’s inaugural presidential senior fellow.
For McCullough, bringing Brooks to FSU grew out of hearing him speak at a gathering of university presidents. McCullough said he was struck by Brooks’ perspective on higher education, including its challenges, opportunities and role in society.
“I was just completely blown away and fascinated by his take on higher education,” McCullough said. “I thought it was a very fair perspective. It was not political. It wasn’t right or left. It was just, as a public intellectual, his assessment of what we had done.” McCullough said Brooks’ focus on character and values also resonated with his own ideas about leadership. “I’m just fascinated by that sort of intellectual life of leadership,” McCullough said. “I feel like David has such a brilliant perspective on leadership and what it takes to lead with character.”
After hearing Brooks speak, McCullough returned to FSU and approached Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark about bringing him to campus. Clark, who was already familiar with Brooks’ work, helped lead the effort to make the visit happen.
Ryan Owens, director of the Institute for Governance and Civics, said the event also gives students a chance to see what thoughtful conversation about difficult subjects can look like.
“I think it’s important for students to see leadership behind efforts like this,” Owens said. “I think to have two very important, prominent individuals up there talking about that problem and talking about things that we can do to improve on it is an incredibly useful model for students to see, to observe and to follow.”
That kind of open exchange is an important part of IGC’s work. Owens said the institute’s research shows students overwhelmingly want opportunities to have free-flowing discussions about a range of issues, even as many worry that their peers may not welcome differing views.
Events such as the Brooks conversation can help demonstrate that students can encounter ideas that challenge them while still engaging with one another respectfully, Owens said.
“We talk about changing the culture of things so that people believe in a free market of conversation, a free market of ideas, openness, and are willing to discuss and engage with ideas that may or may not be comfortable to you,” Owens said. “That’s all part of the endeavor that we’re trying to do at the IGC and at FSU.”
Brooks began his journalism career as a police reporter in Chicago and later spent nearly a decade at The Wall Street Journal, including as a foreign correspondent and editor. He went on to help launch The Weekly Standard and became a familiar presence on “PBS NewsHour.”
In early 2026, Brooks left The New York Times after 22 years as an opinion columnist and joined The Atlantic as a staff writer. He also became Yale’s first presidential senior fellow, a five-year appointment that includes lectures and conversations examining questions about meaning, community and institutions.
McCullough said he hopes students take advantage of the opportunity to hear Brooks in person, describing him as a “master storyteller.”
“I hope the students will not miss the opportunity to be in Ruby Diamond to hear this,” McCullough said. “I hope that it will be standing room only, because this is a kind of once-in-a-lifetime thing to hear somebody like this speak.”
