Inspiring Book from an Admirable Author

This year’s Pre-read, How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa ’86 (On the Campus, June issue), is as inspiring as Maria’s life is admirable. Both her book and her life embrace what is at the core of a liberal arts education: “honesty, vulnerability, empathy, moving away from emotions, embracing your fear, believing in the good” (her words). She also stands for the kind of society where these personal values can flourish: pluralism, free speech, anti-authoritarianism, the search for truth. She subtitles her book “The Fight for Our Future.” I’ll add that it’s the fight for our present as well.