All incoming freshmen will complete a shared reading as part of their Connections course. Other new students are encouraged to also complete the reading as discussions and LEAD programming will be planned for the Fall, 2008 semester.

This year, "This I Believe" has been selected. This book, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, is a compilation of essays about personal philosophies of remarkable men and women.

"Based on the NPR series of the same name,the bestselling This I Believe features eighty essayists - fromt he famous to the previously unknown -- completing the though that begins the book's title. Each piece compels us to rethink not only how we have arrived at our own personal beliefs but also the extent to which we share them with others. The result is a stirring and provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of people whose beliefs - and the remarkably varied ways in which they choose to express them - reveal the American spirit at it's best."

--Taken from the book jacket

You may order your copy of "This I Believe at any bookstore or online. To ensure that you get the right book, please refer to ISBN: 978-0-8050-8658-4