Iona College Launches New Moral Leadership Lecture Series

Iona College is launching a new lecture series titled, “Advancing Ethical and Moral Leadership,” sponsored by the College’s Hagan School of Business.

The series will offer practical examples of ethical leadership for young people and those in the working world, and it will kick off on Saturday, Oct. 17, with a talk by William McGurn, Wall Street Journal columnist and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

McGurn writes the Main Street column at The Wall Street Journal, where he has written editorials for years. In addition, he spent more than a decade overseas -- in Brussels for The Wall Street Journal/Europe and in Hong Kong with both the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. In the mid-1990s, McGurn was Washington Bureau Chief for National Review.

He is the author of a book on Hong Kong titled Perfidious Albion and a monograph on terrorism, “Terrorist or Freedom Fighter.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Notre Dame and a master’s in communications from Boston University.

“Distant and recent history is comprised of human struggles to advance ethical leadership,” said Iona President Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D., in a statement. “The Iona College mission calls upon us to develop graduates recognized for their ethics -- and we believe our students and our nation greatly benefit in learning through the experiences of others how to navigate our complex world where ethics and values often conflict with business situations and decisions.

“Every one of us will eventually face a situation where we are called upon to do the right thing in the face of criticism and adversity,” he added. “At Iona, we strive to provide our students with the tools to exercise moral and ethical leadership.”

Dr. Nyre said that the lecture series was in keeping with the mission, vision and values of Iona College, which commits itself to “the development of graduates recognized for their ethics, creativity and problem-solving abilities along with independent and adaptable thinking.”

Dr. Charles J. Cante, interim dean of the Hagan School of Business, said that “regardless of one’s current or future role in business, society or family, we all benefit by learning of examples of challenges to leadership and how each was resolved as a way to help us shape our actions. The lecture series is one vehicle in this process.”

McGurn’s October 17 talk is open to the public and will occur as part of Iona’s Homecoming & Family Weekend festivities. It begins at noon on Iona College’s main campus in New Rochelle, in the Romita Auditorium, Ryan Library. For more information or to register to attend, contact Ms. Rhonda Morris, executive assistant to the dean of the Hagan School of Business, at (914) 633-2062 or rmorris@iona.edu.

Photo credit: Iona College