Mary Kate Cary

Dir. of Think Again @ UVA - home of free speech, viewpoint diversity, critical thinking & intellectual humility on Grounds. Currently Asst. VP / Deputy COS.

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

92 years ago today, Allied forces stormed the beaches at Normandy to save the West from tyranny. A great way to commemorate it: watch our episode on Reagan's "Boys of Pointe du Hoc" on the 40th anniversary. It's free to subscribe to "Speaking of America" here: https://t.co/0wnjdQPRwi…
@uva @RonaldReagan @Reagan_Library

[Echoes of War @EchoesofWarYT]

Just after midnight on June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy finished his victory speech in the Ambassador Hotel ballroom with the words "and now it's on to Chicago, and let's win there."

He had four minutes left as a conscious man, and the way those minutes unfolded still haunts American history.

To save time, his bodyguard led him through the hotel kitchen. RFK did what he always did: he stopped to shake hands with the workers. He was reaching for the hand of Juan Romero, a 17-year-old busboy, when Sirhan Sirhan stepped forward and fired.

The photo everyone knows is Romero kneeling on the concrete floor, cradling the senator's head. The boy pressed a rosary into his hand. Witnesses heard Kennedy ask, "Is everybody OK?" Romero told him yes. Kennedy answered, "Everything's going to be OK."

He died the next day. He was 42.

Consider what that one moment took. Two months earlier, on the night Martin Luther King was murdered, it was Kennedy who stood on a flatbed truck in Indianapolis and broke the news to a Black crowd, speaking off the cuff about his own brother's killing for the first time in public, quoting Aeschylus from memory. Indianapolis stayed calm that night while a hundred cities burned.

Now, in the space of nine weeks, the country lost them both.

His funeral train ran from New York to Washington, and something happened that nobody planned: more than a million Americans appeared along the tracks. Factory workers holding hard hats over hearts. Little League teams at attention. People standing in rivers to see it pass. The train ran hours late because the crowds never stopped.

Juan Romero carried that night for the rest of his life. For decades he believed that if Kennedy hadn't stopped to shake his hand, he might have lived. He finally visited the grave in 2010 and said he felt the senator would have told him to be proud, not sorry.

Whatever 1968 was supposed to become ended on that kitchen floor, 58 years ago today.

[Speaking of America @SOAmerica250]

On this day 36 years ago, Barbara Bush showed up to a hostile audience at Wellesley College and delivered one of the most gracious commencement addresses in history.

You can learn about the speech, and the woman who gave it, here.

https://t.co/t4sduG1m9n

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

Great conversation with my good friend @dankuecker about Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena," part of our "Speaking of America" docuseries. (Link to register below) https://t.co/Y4CweUwpQV
Register for the free series here: https://t.co/hrzoHggyfr

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

After attending the WH Correspondents Dinner last night and sitting three tables away from the stage, I am more concerned than ever with @TheFIREorg polling showing a 50% increase over the last 5 years in college students who find political violence acceptable. The answer: @ThinkAgainUVA’s emphasis on civil discourse and viewpoint diversity rather than violence.

[Michael Beschloss @BeschlossDC]

Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on April 24, 1953:

[Speaking of America @SOAmerica250]

On this day in 1906, 120 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt delivered his “Man with the Muck Rake” speech. He challenged pessimism and doomsday attitudes by delivering a speech that urged Americans to see the good in life and then go after it.

“We appreciate that the things of the body are important;  but we appreciate also that the things of the soul are immeasurably more important.  The foundation stone of national life is, and ever must be,  the high individual character of the average citizen.”

Interested in learning more about why and how Teddy Roosevelt delivered this speech? We've got an episode on it! Learn about this speech, and many others, by registering here.

https://t.co/lolB3xlxHv
@mkcary @UVa_LifetimeLrn

[Monticello @TJMonticello]

#OnThisDay in 1743: Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Virginia.

Happy 283rd birthday, Thomas Jefferson!🎉

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

Come join us in Richmond this Friday afternoon @VirginiaMuseum - should be a great celebration of the 250th!

[UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy @UVADemocracy]

Hear Virginia college students deliver powerful speeches about a #Virginian who embodies the Declaration of Independence.

“A Nation at 250: Virginia Student Oratory Contest,” April 10 at @VirginiaMuseum.
Free and open to the public.

Details ⤵️
https://t.co/AIdx47BDyU

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

Announcing a new podcast from @ThinkAgainUVA: Disagree with a Professor. Listen in as @UVA students and professors engage in open inquiry as empathetic listeners and generous speakers. Available on all podcast platforms TODAY! https://t.co/QCSlL39rmh

[Speaking of America @SOAmerica250]

We have an episode on this speech—alongside Robert F. Kennedy’s address following MLK’s assassination—available to watch on May 17. Learn more at the link in our bio.
@mkcary @UVa_LifetimeLrn

[Speaking of America @SOAmerica250]

On this day in 1968, just one day before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” in Memphis, TN. 57 years later, his words still challenge and inspire.

“I may not get there with you… but we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

Listen to the full speech here:
https://t.co/AtSfcQws6o

[UVALifetimeLearning @UVa_LifetimeLrn]

Speaking of America: a one-of-a-kind docuseries on America’s greatest speeches. Collection A features: Patrick Henry, Martin Luther King, Jr., Reagan, Harvey Milk, Margaret Chase Smith, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and GW. Bush. LEARN MORE >> https://t.co/fT7BMiC1oR

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

Standing room only crowd @UVA to hear about Patrick Henry’s greatest speech. Link provided in the story to sign up for our video series on great American speeches - join us! https://t.co/FeN2miV40T

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

So excited to see how many people have signed up. More episodes coming soon!

[UVALifetimeLearning @UVa_LifetimeLrn]

To honor America’s 250th anniversary, join us for a one-of-a-kind docuseries exploring America’s greatest speeches. LEARN MORE https://t.co/fT7BMiC1oR
@mkcary @SOAmerica250 @VARevolution250 @PoliticsUVA @Center4Politics @Miller_Center @UVADemocracy @uvahistory #history #politics

[Peter Robinson @p_m_robinson]

"Be of good cheer." Herewith a man who fulfills the gospel admonition with intelligence, humility, and a transcendent valor. BEN SASSE on Uncommon Knowledge. https://t.co/L2Z2axBIEZ

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

⁦@continetti⁩ on the revival of rhetoric: “Not even the most contagious viral post can substitute for deliberate, sustained and eloquent rhetoric.” Get ready for the new @UVA docuseries on great oratory, “Speaking of America,” coming soon! https://t.co/jwhKcnb1d3

[UVA @UVA]

A rare and valuable copy of the Declaration of Independence, one of two UVA has, is being readied for a special display in the Rotunda on Presidents Day. https://t.co/HLzT9cGhws

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

One of the best events at @UVA in years: @McCormickProf Robert George and @CornelWest before a packed house of Hoos. Here’s to constructive disagreement!

https://t.co/666Ok5gGyw

[Mary Kate Cary @mkcary]

Great news! ⁦@PrincetoniansFS⁩ just named my recent conversation with John Tomasi on ⁦@HdxAcademy⁩’s Heterodox Out Loud their “Podcast of the Month.” Lots of ways colleges can build a culture of viewpoint diversity and open inquiry! https://t.co/B4XtVHR7T2