A TORCH DINNER
The Responsibility to Think: Belief, Integrity, and Public Life
When Philip A. Glotzbach speaks to the Saratoga Torch Club on April 27, he will take up a theme both timeless and urgently contemporary: the responsibility we bear for what we believe. In an era when information moves instantly and opinions form publicly, the question is no longer simply what we think, but how thoughtfully we arrive at those conclusions and how accountable we are for them. Glotzbach’s presentation will invite listeners to examine belief not as a private possession but as a civic act with consequences for the communities we inhabit.
Philip A. Glotzbach
Drawing on his long career in higher education, including his years guiding Skidmore College through a period of institutional growth and cultural change, Glotzbach brings a perspective shaped by decades of working with students, faculty, and public audiences. He has spent much of that time encouraging young people to cultivate intellectual independence while remaining open to evidence and dialogue. His reflections will consider how education, at its best, prepares individuals not merely to hold opinions but to test them against reason, experience, and the perspectives of others.
The talk will explore the difference between belief as inheritance and belief as deliberate commitment. Glotzbach is expected to argue that responsible citizenship requires more than certainty or conviction; it requires humility, curiosity, and a willingness to revise one’s views in light of new understanding. In a cultural climate often marked by polarization and quick judgment, this approach offers a framework for disagreement that preserves both integrity and mutual respect.
He will also address how institutions — schools, civic organizations, and communities like the Torch Club — can foster environments where thoughtful belief formation is encouraged rather than rushed. Such spaces, he suggests, are essential to democratic life, because they help individuals develop the habits of reflection and accountability that sustain meaningful public discourse. By connecting personal intellectual responsibility to the health of civic culture, Glotzbach’s remarks promise to resonate well beyond the classroom.
This presentation offers Torch Club members an opportunity to reflect on their own intellectual journeys and on the responsibilities that accompany the freedom to think and speak. In inviting us to consider how beliefs are shaped, defended, and revised, Glotzbach’s talk points toward a vision of citizenship grounded in reflection rather than reaction. It promises an evening of thoughtful inquiry into the practices of mind that help individuals — and communities — remain both principled and open.
Smartacus Wonders
When you speak of freedom in today’s world, what do you see as the greatest misunderstanding people have about what it really requires?
How should colleges prepare students not just to exercise freedom, but to use it responsibly in a rapidly changing technological and political landscape?
In your experience as a college president, when did you see students most deeply grapple with the meaning of freedom in their own lives?
What tensions do you see between individual freedom and the obligations we owe to democratic society—and how should institutions help people navigate that balance?
Looking ahead twenty years, what gives you the most hope—and the most concern—about the future of freedom in American civic life?
To Join Us for Dinner Before the Presentation
Dinner will be at the Saratoga Springs Holiday Inn starting with a cash bar at 5:30 p.m. $40 payable by cash or check at the door. To make a reservation, email Richard Lynch at torchman999@gmail.com.
Thanks to the Smartacus Story Accelerator.