Benedictine College Opening Convocation Set for Aug. 29

Tim Carney, author and Washington Examiner columnist, to Deliver Keynote Address

Benedictine College will celebrate the start of another academic year on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, with a formal All School Mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Benedict’s Abbey Church, followed by the traditional Opening Convocation in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium at 11:00 a.m. Benedictine College alumnus Fr. Brian Lager ’04 will deliver the homily at the Mass. The annual Convocation signals the end of “Beanie Week” at the college and features a keynote speaker. This year, Tim Carney, noted author and senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner, will address the gathering.

In addition to his role at the Washington Examiner, Carney is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His latest book, Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse (HarperCollins), was published in February 2019. Carney spoke at Benedictine College that year as a guest of the school’s Center for Constitutional Liberty and his speech, “Connect or Collapse,” focused on his research into the American Dream and whether it was truly dead or still alive.

“I wrote Alienated America and I enjoyed writing it. I think it’s an important book,” he said during his visit. “It’s a book about the American Dream and the widely held view that the American Dream is dead. So it’s a book about work. It’s a book about faith. It’s a book about family and it’s a book about community.”

Carney found that certain areas lacked the strong community, church or civic organization connections to help them, or the people simply weren’t engaging with them. He thinks these failing social connections are contributing to the divide in America today. He said there are “a hundred thousand little solutions,” including everything from philanthropic investment in communities to everyone doing little things to help each other.

Carney’s other books include Obamanomics (Regnery Publishing, 2009) and The Big Ripoff (John Wiley & Sons, 2006), which was awarded the 2008 Culture of Enterprise award by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. His next book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than it Needs to Be, will be published by HarperCollins in early 2024.

In addition to his Washington Examiner columns, Carney has been published in a variety of magazines, websites and newspapers, including the Atlantic, New York Post, the New York Times, Reason magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. His television appearances include CNBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour.

Carney has a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He and his wife live in the Washington, D.C., area and have six children.

Following the keynote address, the freshman class will be welcomed into the community of Ravens and will remove their beanies. The practice of freshmen wearing beanies dates back generations and Benedictine College may be the only college in America that still observes the tradition. This year, the college is celebrating the largest incoming freshman class in the history of the school, with more than 630 beginning freshmen for Fall 2023.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is honored to have been named one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report, the best private college in Kansas by The Wall Street Journal, and one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. Benedictine College is dedicated to transforming culture in America through its mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.