1774 Society

Since 2008, NA’s Global Speaker Series Committee has brought distinguished individuals from around the world to address the NA community, enriching students’ understanding and broadening their intellectual horizons. One program in the series is designated as the Feinberg Multicultural Lecture which was founded in 2001 through an endowment gift made by Peter Feinberg ’78 and Margery Feinberg ’78. The Feinberg Lecture was created to bring thought-provoking topics to the Newark Academy student body. 

 

In the winter of 2020, Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and Tony-nominated producer spoke with NA students virtually during the hour-long Feinberg Lecture, followed by breakout sessions. Vargas is a leading voice for the human rights of immigrants and founded the non-profit, Define American, which consults with television networks to humanize conversations about immigration in their narratives. Define America was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Forbes. Vargas is the author of the best-selling memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen.

 

Another installment of the Global Speaker Series included a virtual visit from alumna Charlotte Alter ’07, who is a senior correspondent at TIME covering politics and social issues. Charlotte has covered the 2016, 2018, and 2020 campaigns, the Women’s March and anti-Trump resistance, the rise in youth activism around gun violence and climate change, the spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation, and the 2020 Democratic primary and general election. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Vox. 

 

Charlotte, a Newark Academy lifer, talked to current students about her recently published book, The Ones We've Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America, offering compelling facts and information about politics and leadership.

“People don’t tend to change their minds that much. They may change their minds a little bit about one issue or politician, but actually big swings from far right to far left or far left to far right are fairly rare, so this is what my book is about,” she said.  “Our lifelong political attitudes are shaped by the events of early adulthood.”