Cornel West & Robert P. George: A Face-Off. When was the U.S. at its best (and at its worst)?
Join us for an unmissable evening of deep dialogue and spirited debate as two of America’s most prominent public intellectuals take the stage together at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Philosopher and activist Dr. Cornel West and conservative legal scholar Professor Robert P. George will explore a provocative question: When was the United States at its greatest – and when did it falter most?
In this faceoff, these longtime friends and ideological opposites will examine defining moments in American history, challenge each other’s perspectives, and model how respectful discourse can illuminate difficult truths about our nation’s past and present.
This is a rare opportunity to witness meaningful conversation across divides – and to reflect on what it means to pursue a more perfect union.
Details on Attending
Where
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
303 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504
When
Friday, November 14, 2025
Private Friends of Ford Member Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Program: 6:30 p.m.
Book signing to follow the event.
Program Supporters
In partnership with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum and the Secchia Family Foundation, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation is proud to bring Cornel and Robert to Grand Rapids.
Watch the Livestream
About DR. CORNEL WEST
Dr. Cornel West is an American philosopher, intellectual, author, professor, activist, and actor. As an author, he is best known for Race Matters, Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving out Loud.
West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1952, and grew up in Sacramento. As a young man, he participated in civil rights demonstrations and organized protests, inspired by Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party, and James Cone. He attended Harvard College, studying Near Eastern languages and civilization, and graduated magna cum laude in 1970. He became the first African American to earn a PhD in philosophy from Princeton and went on to teach philosophy, religion, and African American studies at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and elsewhere.
West published his best known book, Race Matters, a year after the Los Angeles riots. The collection of essays explored the crisis in leadership in the Black community, Black conservatism, Black-Jewish relations, myths about Black sexuality, and the legacy of Malcolm X.
In addition to hosting radio shows and podcasts on race and social affairs, West has published several spoken word and hip hop albums. He also has several film and TV credits, including the role of Councillor West in the Matrix and the Matrix Revolutions. West married Dr. Annahita Mahdavi, a social sciences professor, in 2021.
About ROBERT P. GEORGE
Robert P. George is the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and Director of Princeton’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, which was founded under his leadership in 2000. George holds honorary visiting professorships in law and public policy at Pepperdine University and has frequently been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. He is a Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and the American Enterprise Institute.
Professor George has chaired the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the President’s Council on Bioethics. In addition, Professor George has been the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. He was also a Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Swarthmore, he holds JD and MTS degrees from Harvard University as well as the degrees of DPhil, BCL, DCL, and DLitt from Oxford University. He holds twenty-three honorary doctorates.
Professor George is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland, the Bradley Prize for Intellectual and Civic Achievement, the Barry Prize of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, the Irving Kristol Award of the American Enterprise Institute, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the James Q. Wilson Award of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions, the Philip Merrill Award of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and Princeton University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Professor George is the author of Making Men Moral: Civil Liberties and Public Morality and In Defense of Natural Law, among many other works. He has given honorific lectures at Harvard, Yale, Oxford, St. Andrews, and Cornell, among other universities, and has been a Constitution Day Lecturer at the Library of Congress.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is Of Counsel to the law firm of Robinson & McElwee. He is bluegrass banjo player and finger-style guitarist.
