Terry Tempest Williams encourages students to ask questions
May 02, 2006
A lecture by Terry Tempest Williams in a packed Lagerquist Concert Hall brought PLU’s Earth Week celebration to a close last Thursday.
Tempest Williams is an author and advocate on environmental issues and the necessity of civic engagement. She spent Thursday on campus, and hosted two student forums before her speech that evening.
Tempest Williams addressed a packed house in Lagerquist with a speech titled, “Ode to the Earth: Sustaining Joy.” She built what she learned from students during the forums into her lecture. She assured students that it is natural to feel overwhelmed by the issues they discussed in the forums, and said there is no formula to living a meaningful life.
Students Nathan Bendickson, Jamie Forslund, Adam Oswald, Rebekka Esbjornson and Jesica Tanner participated in Tempest Williams’ speech, each reading their response to the question she posed at the afternoon forum: “What questions keep you up at night?” The student responses expressed doubts and fears about the future, questioned the actions of humans and reflected on the search for meaning in their lives.
The collaborative approach to the address grew out of the afternoon forum, when the 20 students in attendance shared their responses to the question. The group discussed what they had heard, and Tempest Williams stressed the power of questions.
“Questions lead us to the unknown,” she said. In order to take action, you must first ask questions, she said.
That evening, Tempest Williams commended PLU’s efforts to promote sustainability. She said that during a visit to Drury University in Springfield, Mo., earlier in the year, a senior presenting the environmental history of Drury cited PLU as a model of sustainability.
PLU was the first university in the Pacific Northwest to sign the Talloires Declaration, the official statement of university administrators dedicated to environmental sustainability in higher education. Now, over 300 universities have signed it. Tempest Williams said she plans to encourage the University of Utah to add its name.
Tempest Williams challenged students to create a book from their questions, of which she offered to write the forward. She suggested each student create a composition about questions, and then designate one student to gather the writings and compile them into a collection.
“Then you could be the leader in sustainability and the leader in questioning,” she said.
Tempest Williams used stories from her life to illustrate civic duty, leadership and what it means to be engaged. She told students about her life, the trials and tribulations that shaped her worldview, and stressed the power of stories.
“Stories bypass rhetoric and pierce the heart,” she said.
Students questioned Tempest Williams on a range of topics, from social justice and peace to the environment to how to make people listen. Tempest Williams told students that in order to change a situation, you must first change yourself.
“We can no longer look for leadership outside ourselves,” she said. “We need to look in the mirror.”
Student Becky Mares attended both student forums and the speech that evening. She described the experience as “incredible.”
“Seriously, I’ve been transformed in one day,” she said. “Terry Tempest Williams is such a full, alive spirit.”
To learn more about Tempest Williams, visit www.coyoteclan.com.
Tempest Williams addressed a packed house in Lagerquist with a speech titled, “Ode to the Earth: Sustaining Joy.” She built what she learned from students during the forums into her lecture. She assured students that it is natural to feel overwhelmed by the issues they discussed in the forums, and said there is no formula to living a meaningful life.
Students Nathan Bendickson, Jamie Forslund, Adam Oswald, Rebekka Esbjornson and Jesica Tanner participated in Tempest Williams’ speech, each reading their response to the question she posed at the afternoon forum: “What questions keep you up at night?” The student responses expressed doubts and fears about the future, questioned the actions of humans and reflected on the search for meaning in their lives.
The collaborative approach to the address grew out of the afternoon forum, when the 20 students in attendance shared their responses to the question. The group discussed what they had heard, and Tempest Williams stressed the power of questions.
“Questions lead us to the unknown,” she said. In order to take action, you must first ask questions, she said.
That evening, Tempest Williams commended PLU’s efforts to promote sustainability. She said that during a visit to Drury University in Springfield, Mo., earlier in the year, a senior presenting the environmental history of Drury cited PLU as a model of sustainability.
PLU was the first university in the Pacific Northwest to sign the Talloires Declaration, the official statement of university administrators dedicated to environmental sustainability in higher education. Now, over 300 universities have signed it. Tempest Williams said she plans to encourage the University of Utah to add its name.
Tempest Williams challenged students to create a book from their questions, of which she offered to write the forward. She suggested each student create a composition about questions, and then designate one student to gather the writings and compile them into a collection.
“Then you could be the leader in sustainability and the leader in questioning,” she said.
Tempest Williams used stories from her life to illustrate civic duty, leadership and what it means to be engaged. She told students about her life, the trials and tribulations that shaped her worldview, and stressed the power of stories.
“Stories bypass rhetoric and pierce the heart,” she said.
Students questioned Tempest Williams on a range of topics, from social justice and peace to the environment to how to make people listen. Tempest Williams told students that in order to change a situation, you must first change yourself.
“We can no longer look for leadership outside ourselves,” she said. “We need to look in the mirror.”
Student Becky Mares attended both student forums and the speech that evening. She described the experience as “incredible.”
“Seriously, I’ve been transformed in one day,” she said. “Terry Tempest Williams is such a full, alive spirit.”
To learn more about Tempest Williams, visit www.coyoteclan.com.