On October 16, I’ve been invited by Gannon University to speak at the historic Warner Theater in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon has chosen my book, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, as their Gannon READS selection for the 2025-2026 school year. They are giving each incoming student a copy of the book, and they have built it into the curriculum in their required seminar course. The good folks at Chalice Press, who published the book, have arranged a special printing celebrating the university’s centennial, with a custom cover that includes the university logo, and a letter from the university president in the front.
Paul Perrine, the Dean of Student Development and Engagement, explained the way they are presenting it to students: “Hopefully, in four years, we will gather this whole class in a big auditorium, we will call their names, they will walk across a stage and we will hand them a diploma. That will be the last time we gather them together. So the first time we gather them together, we are going to call their name, they are going to walk across a stage, and we are going to hand them your book. We want to book end their college experience.”
That gathering happened earlier this month. Now students are studying the book, and next month I will have the chance to offer a lecture in a 1000-seat auditorium to those students and some members of the local Erie community. They expect the auditorium to be sold out.
There is more extraordinary news about that talk to share, but it really deserves its own blog, so stay tuned. 🙂
In the meantime, I’m celebrating that I get to connect with the entire first-year class at Gannon University. In this particular historical moment, I hope I can offer them something worthwhile. It’s also a dream I have had for years that a university would choose my book as a campus read. It has been in the running at a couple of schools, and it’s really humbling that the committee that makes that choice, out of every book published, chose this one.
Thanks to Gannon University for seeing the value in these ideas, and thanks to you for celebrating with me.
Peace,
David
Leave a Reply