Dear Chautauqua Family, I have potlucks on my mind this morning as Peter and I prepare to host loved ones at our table for Thanksgiving. At Chautauqua, we are well familiar with the potluck, and our community throws a lot of them — from neighborhood picnics for residents and students, to monthly sessions through the fall, winter and spring at Hurlbut Church, to intimate gatherings of families and friends on porches or in kitchens, as the seasons permit. The opportunity to gather and enjoy each other’s company is something I think we all treasure a little more after these...
Eradicate Hate Global Summit Keynote Address As Prepared for Delivery September 20, 2022 Dr. Michael E. Hill 18th President, Chautauqua Institution Thank you, Leslie, for that kind introduction and for serving as the catalyst for bringing me here today. I’m deeply honored to be with each and every one of you. I’m particularly and sincerely overwhelmed to serve as a keynote the night after Henry Reese and Diane Samuels offered their own thoughts and reflections. For those who know the story of what brought me here, the last time I saw Henry and Diane was at Chautauqua Institution on a very fateful day that...
Three Taps of the Gavel closing the 149th Assembly Dr. Michael E. Hill, 18th President of Chautauqua Institution When I was a little boy, I used to lament things that were hard. In those moments when I found myself complaining to my father, his reply would often be: “It builds character.” Chautauqua, as we round out our Summer Assembly season, I have stood witness to many things that were indeed hard about our time together this summer. We entered our summer with COVID still an ominous presence. We struggled to find the necessary staff to operate Chautauqua amid a national labor...
“Aftershocks and Gratitude” Good morning. It has been much too long since we’ve gathered as a full community in this space and in this sacred place. I offer our returning Chautauquans a hearty welcome home. It is definitely not Chautauqua without you. And it’s absolutely wonderful to see you again. To those with us visiting Chautauqua for the first time this morning, we want to offer you an extra special greeting. You are now part of a community that cherishes lifelong learning as a key to perpetuating and enhancing our democratic society. Our mission calls us to constantly widen our...
“Let us take a more joyous strain.” The long winter of our discontent may not be quite over in the world, but this week, it sure is looking a lot like summer at Chautauqua! I have spent the last several days getting to welcome many of you back to the grounds. We’ve been through so much, individually and collectively, since we were last together. It has been wonderful to share your stories and to share some of my own, including the news that since our last in-person Assembly, Peter and I were married, and we joined the mighty ranks of...
Chautauqua Institution President Michael E. Hill was the guest speaker of the 2021 Turner Winter Series hosted at the Robert H. Jackson Center. He reflected on the 2020 Chautauqua Institution season, Covid implications and beyond.
“If We Knew Then …” “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”— T.S. Eliot From our Unitarian Universalist brothers and sisters: “Spirit of life, we look within our own hearts, to the burning coal that is at the center of our being, the place where our hope for the world lives, the place where our faith in humanity resides and there we find the strength and courage to continue moving forward however muddy and rough the path may be.” Until we...
“This is what rituals are for. We do spiritual ceremonies as human beings in order to create a safe resting place for our most complicated feelings of joy or trauma, so that we don’t have to haul those feelings around with us forever, weighing us down. We all need such places of ritual safekeeping. And I do believe that if your culture or tradition doesn’t have the specific ritual you are craving, then you are absolutely permitted to make up a ceremony of your own devising, fixing your own broken-down emotional systems with all the do-it-yourself resourcefulness of a generous...
“Good morning, and welcome home to Chautauqua!” These are the words I have ordinarily used to open our assembly in the first four years I have been fortunate enough to serve as Chautauqua’s President. But this year is anything but ordinary. What you can’t see beyond me is an empty Amphitheater, which can seat up to 4,500 people. Our grounds in Western New York are traditionally populated with between 7,500 to 10,000 people on a day like this. My best estimates are that we have approximately 1,000 people on the grounds for the start of this season. From coast to...
By Michael E. HillPresident, Chautauqua Institution Summer is a time of rituals for me. As President of the 146-year-old Chautauqua Institution located on 750 acres about an hour and 20 minutes south of Buffalo, my summer is usually a highly scripted affair. Over nine weeks, Chautauqua explores the best in human values through some 3,000 individual events. Ours is a storied institution replete with traditions and a sing song routine for those of us called to be stewards of this special place. On a normal June 15, which is when I am writing this, we would be preparing to receive more than 100,000...