Event Types
Presidential Studies
As a presidential studies center, Hauenstein Center programming routinely welcomes authors, historians, and presidential scholars to our stage to share their research and works. Programs include discussions on presidential history, our democracy, and celebrations of national holidays like Constitution Day, Veterans Day, and Presidents’ Day.
The Common Ground Initiative
The Common Ground Initiative is West Michigan’s premier forum for the promotion of civic engagement and intellectual curiosity on the issues facing our region, nation, and world. The Common Ground Event Series invites leaders and scholars to engage in dialogue across political and ideological divides and model the common ground approach for our community.
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Wheelhouse Talks
The Wheelhouse Talks are a signature program of the Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy. These events feature a brilliant group of regional, state, and national leaders spanning generations, fields, and experiences. Throughout the series, our speakers share their leadership journeys, lessons learned, and the values and philosophies that guide them today.
Past Events
2024-2025 Academic Year
Presidential Studies
September 17, 2024: Constitution Day: The Constitution vs. Democracy
October 10, 2024: How President Bill Clinton's Campaigns Reshaped Modern Presidential Politics
November 11, 2024: Veterans Day: Lisa Jaster
Common Ground Initiative
October 15, 2024: Progressive / Conservative Summit: The Myth of Left and Right
October 21, 2024: Election Foreign Policy Public Forum
Wheelhouse Talk
October 11, 2024: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Alumni Panel
November 8, 2024: A Conversation with Dee Bradley Baker
2023-2024 Academic Year
Presidential Studies
September 19, 2023: Constitution Day: Freedom From Religion or Freedom For Religion? with Vincent Phillip Muñoz
November 10, 2023: Celebration of Veterans Day: Lieutenant Jason Redman
February 20, 2024: Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture
March 14: 2024: King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father
May 23, 2024: The Hidden Wounds of War Conference
Common Ground Initiative
September 7, 2023: Citizenship in Crisis: Re-Empowering The American Citizen with Victor Davis Hanson and Eric Liu
October 12, 2023: Citizens of the World: Global Citizenship & U.S. Foreign Relations
November 1, 2023: Pour le Peuple Documentary Screening
January 25, 2024: Bipartisan Policy Panel: Immigration
February 29, 2024: 2024 Progressive / Conservative Summit: Constitutional Reform
April 18, 2024: Reflections on Patriotism
Wheelhouse Talk
September 29, 2023: Faye Richardson-Green
October 27, 2023: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Alumni Panel
December 1, 2023: Stepping Into Leadership: Tricia Thomas
January 18, 2024: TaRita Johnson: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
February 20, 2024: Khalilah Burt Gaston
2022-2023 Academic Year
Presidential Studies
September 22, 2022: John Kowal & Wilfred Codrington
III: Constitution Day Celebration
November 11, 2022: Vice Admiral Sandra Stosz: Veterans Day
Celebration
November 17, 2022: Dennis Rasmussen: Fears of a Setting Sun
January 19, 2023: Dr. Mary Frances Berry: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. Day Commemoration
February 21, 2023: Kate Andersen Brower: Presidents' Day
Celebration
May 11, 2023: Hidden Wounds of War Conference 2023
May
18-19, 2023: Midwestern History Conference 2023
May 19,
2023: An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic
Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
Common Ground Initiative
September 8. 2022: Hal Brands: Russia, China, &
Authoritarians
October 27, 2022: 2022 Election Panel
December 8, 2022: Eyeing The Bench: A Supreme Court Panel
March 16, 2023: Housing Solutions: What's Next?
April 19,
2023: 2023 Progressive / Conservative Summit: Preventing
Political Violence
Wheelhouse Talks
September 30, 2022: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Alumni
Panel
December 2, 2022: Luis Avila: Frederik Meijer Lecture Series
January 27, 2023: Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron: Frederik Meijer Lecture
Series
February 17, 2023: Mary K. Hoodhood: Wheelhouse Talk
April 27,
2023: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Graduation
Celebration 2023
2021-2022 Academic Year
Presidential Studies
September 15, 2021: Akhil Reed Amar: Constitution Day
Celebration
November 11, 2021: First Sergeant Matt Eversmann: Veterans Day
Celebration
December 9, 2021: H. W. Brands: Our First Civil War
February
23, 2022: Lindsay Chervinsky: Presidents' Day
Celebration
March 15, 2022: COL Ralph W. Hauenstein's Birthday
Celebration
May 12, 2022: Hidden Wounds of War Conference
May 19-20,
2022: Midwestern History Conference
Common Ground Initiative
September 2, 2021: American Institutions: Love Them or Leave
Them?
October 1-2, 2021: Progressive/Conservative Summit: What's Now and
What's Next?
October 21, 2021: Carl Szabo and Josh Hammer: Does Big Tech Equal Big
Trouble?
January 20, 2022: Elijah Anderson: Black in White Space
March
23, 2022: Dr. Terri Givens: Bridging Divides - Encouraging
Dialogue with Radical Empathy
April 21, 2022: Panel Discussion: Democracy and Religion
Wheelhouse Talks
September 24, 2021: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Alumni Panel:
Leading at the Intersection
November 19, 2021: Tasha Blackmon: Championing a Community of
Care
February 11, 2022: Graci Harkema: Authentic Leadership from
Within
April 28, 2022: Wayman Britt: Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy Graduation
2020-2021 Academic Year
Presidential Studies
February 18, 2021: Bill Barker: Presidents' Day Celebration - Man and
Legacy
February 24, 2021: Jeffery Rosen: The Constitution, Elections, and
Democracy
March 18, 2021: David Eisenhower: Eisenhower, Hauenstein, and the
Men and Woman Who Saved Civilization
March 22, 2021: Asted Herndon and Lisa Desjardins: The Constitution.
Elections, and Democracy
April 6, 2021: Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett: The
Constitution, Elections, and Democracy
May 6, 2021: Hidden Wounds of War Conference: Moral
Injury
May 13, 2021: Ronald C. White: Lincoln in Private
May
26-27, 2021: Midwest History Conference
Common Ground Initiative
September 24, 2020: Paula Monopoli: Centennial of the Nineteenth
Amendment
October 22, 2020: Election Panel 2020: Progressive/Conservative
Summit
November 19, 2020: America's "New Normal" Panel Discussion:
Navigating a Global Pandemic
December 10, 2020: Kasey Pipes: The Resurrection of Richard Nixon - Our
Elder Statesman
January 21, 2021: Chief Isaiah Mckinnon: Policing from the
Inside
April 22, 2021: H.W. Brands: The Zealot and the Emancipator
Wheelhouse Talks
September 11, 2020: Cook Leadership Academy Alumni Panel
October
9, 2020: Dr. Eva Feldman: The Leadership Thread Between
Research and Practice
November 12, 2020: Ari Weinzweig: The Power of Beliefs in
Business
February 26, 2021: Kelsey Perdue: Local Leadership from Global
Experience
April 29, 2021: President Philomena V. Mantella: Peter C. Cook
Leadership Academy Graduation
2019-2020 Academic Year
Presidential Studies / Common Ground Initiative
September 3, 2019: Lynne Olson: Chasing Allies
September 24,
2019: Jeffrey Rosen: The Future of the
Constitution
October 21, 2019: Michael Beschloss: Presidential Character - Finding
the X-Factor
November 6, 2019: Danielle Allen: Equality and the American
Experience
December 10, 2019: Hank Meijer and David Roll: Arthur Vandenberg and
General Marshall
January 23, 2020: Steve Luxenberg: Plessy v. Ferguson - Race
in American Memory
February 18, 2020: Climate Change Happens. Now What? A Panel Debate on
Climate Change (The 9th Annual Progressive/Conservative
Summit)
March 3, 2020: Amity Shlaes: The Great Society and its
Enemies
Wheelhouse Talks
September 13, 2019: Cook Leadership Academy Alumni Panel
October
11, 2019: Juan R. Olivarez: Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion
February 7, 2020: Pia White and Brian Hauenstein, moderated by Gleaves
Whitney: Total War- American and Japanese Perspectives on World War
II
2018-2019 Academic Year
Presidential Studies / Common Ground Initiative
September 7, 2018: Hank Meijer and Richard Norton Smith: The Mackinac
Conference at 75
September 18, 2018: Heather K. Gerken: Federalism in the Twenty-First
Century
October 16, 2018: George H. Nash: American Conservatism and Populism
in the Age of Trump
December 5, 2018: Gleaves Whitney: Common Ground?
January 10,
2019: Jon Meacham: The Soul of America
January
24, 2019: Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf: Jefferson,
Slavery, and the Moral Imagination
February 7, 2019: H.W. Brands: Comedian-in-Chief: What Presidents'
Humor Says About Them, and About Us
March 14, 2019: General Wesley Clark: COL Ralph W. Hauenstein
Fellowship Presentation
April 12, 2019: Searching for Deeper Common Ground
May 23,
2019: Hidden Wounds of War 2019
May 30-31,
2019: Finding the Lost Region V
Wheelhouse Talks
August 31, 2018: Dr. Debra Furr-Holden: Leading for Public Health in
Flint
October 5, 2018: Joe Jones: Empowering Grand Rapids
November
30, 2018: Kathy Crosby: Leading to Build Goodwill
February 1, 2019: Diane Griffin: Leading for Growth
April 25,
2019: President Thomas J. Haas: A Laker Leader for a
Lifetime