SJU alumnus four star general presents
General Paul Nakasone, SJU '86, spoke about his experiences as the Director of the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. The speech was followed by a Q&A with CSB+SJU President Brian Bruess.
The 16th Annual Eugene J. McCarthy Lecture for Conscience and Courage in Public Life took place on Thursday, Oct. 20. This year’s speaker was General Paul Nakasone, a four-star general from White Bear Lake, Minn. and a 1986 SJU graduate.
The Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement puts on a lecture every year in hopes to “inspire a new generation of young people to pursue fresh ideas, challenge the status quo, effect positive change in their communities and like McCarthy himself, lead with honesty, integrity and courage,” according to their page on the CSB+SJU website.
Nakasone currently serves as the Director of the National Security Agency and Director of the U.S. Cyber Command. Not only was he a graduate from SJU, but he also received his commission in the Army through the ROTC program. Nakasone has held several staff positions with assignments all over the world including the United States, the Republic of Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Not only is Paul Nakasone a great friend to the CSB+SJU community, but this is an important time for the director of the NSA to tell the American public that our elections are safe, secure and legitimate,” said Matt Lindstrom, director of the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement when asked why Nakasone was chosen for this year’s lecture speaker.
In this year’s lecture, Nakasone discussed cyber security threats specifically regarding the past 2020 presidential elections and the upcoming 2022 midterm elections this November. This is one of the many responsibilities of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.
“The agency is responsible for generating insight, sharing information and preventing cyber threats to the national security system and…to act against interference in elections,” Nakasone said.
Other topics discussed in his lecture included the Russian Ukraine war and how influential his time at CSB+SJU was.
“At St. John’s and St. Ben’s, we speak of building value and character, but character building continues long after we graduate as Senator McCarthy showed…I encourage you to emulate the courage and patriotism that Senator McCarthy demonstrated and consider following his own footsteps of public service to our nations,” Nakasone said.
A big part of Nakasone’s lecture was how his time as a student at CSB+SJU shaped him into the person he is today. This was a big takeaway for CSB senior Kate Fenske, a student coordinator at the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy who introduced Nakasone at the lecture.
“The biggest takeaway that I took was the role that CSB+SJU takes in shaping alums. He really referenced that for such a small school, on a nationwide scale, we have a lot of really influential people and a lot of different people working on the Hill in different executive bureaucratic departments. We have a huge D.C. alumni network and just the power that this school has [is something] that I don’t think you realize a lot of the time while you’re here,” Fenske said.
