Feb. 6, 2024

The rule of law and the future of democracy will be the focus of Augustana University’s 2024 Boe Forum on Public Affairs, featuring The New York Times columnist and bestselling author David Brooks.

Brooks will speak at 7:30 p.m. March 19 at the Elmen Center. Free tickets are available here.

The Boe Forum is a program of Augustana University and the Center for Western Studies. This year, Brooks will speak two weeks following Super Tuesday, when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. A recent statewide poll suggests that South Dakotans on both sides of the aisle are concerned about democracy and the validity of election results.

“With the presidential election and the balance of federal power in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in question, 2024 is a tremendously consequential election year,” said Harry Thompson, executive director of the CWS.

Beyond The New York Times, Brooks has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press,” as well as in The New Yorker, The Washington Post and Forbes. Before joining the Times in 2003, he held positions at The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Newsweek and The Weekly Standard. He has been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities, was a Jackson Senior Fellow at Yale and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The author of a half-dozen books, Brooks “seeks to explore and explain humanity and the way we live — underscoring the value of community and importance of nourishing both the inner and social self on our journey to a fulfilling life,” according to a statement from Augustana.

Published in October 2023, Brooks’ most recent book, “How To Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen” is a guide to fostering authentic connection in a society plagued by loneliness and fragmentation.

“In selecting David Brooks, the university-community Boe Forum committee found Brooks’ stance on the importance of the rule of law to a functioning democracy especially appealing. Brooks is widely regarded as one of the most astute and measured voices on American politics and society,” Thompson said.

A Q&A session will follow the speech, with questions developed by Augustana students interested in politics and journalism, moderated by President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

For updates on the event, visit augie.edu/boe.