Jon Stewart wasn’t going anywhere.
The comedian and activist’s hourlong, off-the-record session with University of Chicago students at the April 6 War Horse Symposium hosted by the Harris School of Public Policy should have ended at 5 p.m. But 5 came and went, and despite a minder tapping his watch and mouthing “time!” Stewart didn’t budge.
Stewart kept taking questions from the 30 or so students squeezed into Room 801 at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, using his answers to encourage them to speak truth to power and to open their minds to new ways of seeing the world, the government, and, in particular, U.S. military and veterans’ issues.
Finally heading out, Stewart first stopped for group photos before dashing to the evening keynote. There, he and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks discussed “The Human Impact of Military Service,” the theme of the trailblazing symposium hosted by the Harris School and The War Horse News, a nonprofit organization reporting on military service.
Along with Stewart and Hicks, the event convened scholars, journalists, government officials, veterans, active-duty service members, students and the curious for a full day of exploring the intersection of solutions journalism and public policy and the military/civilian divide.
“Incredible,” Molly Smith, MPP Class of 2023, said after the session with Stewart, one of two invitation-only programs for Harris students.
“I really found it refreshing that he came in and wasn't all just inspirational talk,” added Smith, who said she does not have personal connections to the military but found the symposium “so meaningful.”