The First Chesterton Student Symposium

On Friday, February 9, Chesterton students spent a full day delighting in Shakespeare’s great play, The Tempest. In the morning, students arrived to a family-provided spread of coffee, pastries, and fruit. After morning prayer, they engaged in two seminars on the play, one of which was led by the keynote speaker for the day, Providence College Professor and Chesterton board member Dr. Matthew Cuddeback. Taking up an activity that the students themselves do after each major work we student, faculty also offered brief "panel" papers on the play, with time for student question and answer. In the afternoon, the students dramatized key scenes from the play, and then listened to Dr. Cuddeback’s keynote lecture addressing the relationship of authority, obedience, and freedom – and how, in Shakespeare’s Tempest, we find ourselves only in giving ourselves away. This beautiful day, celebrating our daily search for the truth in friendship, ended with fellowship and refreshment at our afternoon reception. Always a sign of lively inquiry, earnest conversation carried from the seminar room to lunch and the end-of-day social reception. And all of us, in the middle of pondering truth, goodness, and beauty, gathered together to contemplate and worship Truth in Person at midday Mass. Thank you to all our families for providing refreshments that helped make the day a festive celebration, and to all those who worked so hard behind the scenes to make it a successful celebration!