Recently in Spencer K. Gaffney

Thanassis Cambanis *00 first went to Lebanon in 2006 as the Middle East bureau chief for The Boston Globe. After three years in Baghdad reporting on the Iraq War, Cambanis had been assigned to cover the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Islamist political party and paramilitary group based in Lebanon that the United States lists as a terrorist organization. He had seen the influence of Hezbollah on Iraqi Islamist insurgents, and he wanted to find out what made the group tick.

 

In a Nov. 9 speech at the Woodrow Wilson School, Cambanis traced Hezbollah’s influence throughout the different strata of Lebanese society, from a hard-core fighter he met in the rubble of a border town to the modern “soccer mom” who felt a strong cultural link to Hezbollah.

 

“This connection between the constituents of Hezbollah and the party is at once political, martial, and spiritual,” Cambanis said.

 

Will and Cheek were among the speakers at Wednesday’s “Reflections of Service” forum, an annual freshman orientation event sponsored by the University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement.

 

Will, a columnist for The Washington Post, urged the Class of 2014 to become politically active, calling political participation an important form of civic engagement. Will also warned against defining civic service too narrowly. Making money and helping people, he argued, are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

“Doing a job well in the United States, almost any job, is a form of civic engagement in that it makes the country prosper,” said Will. “Creating wealth is a form of helping our country.”