GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.(October 13, 2010) - Aquinas College welcomes This I Believe co-editor, Dan Gediman to the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center, 1580 East Fulton Street, on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. This free event for the greater Grand Rapids community supports the Common Reading Experience offered at Aquinas College.

Aquinas College adopted the This I Believe publication into the common reading experience on campus in order to explore the idea of beliefs on the campus while inviting students to explore and challenge their own ways of thinking.

Dr. C. Edward Balog, president of Aquinas College, offered these words to the first year community this summer, "Part of the process of education is learning about not just the world around you but also the world within you. Aquinas includes its values and commitments in the catalog so that everyone will know what we stand for. By asking you to read this collection of essays, we are inviting you to explore your own core values and beliefs and to use this effort as a way to contribute to your classroom education."

Gediman's appearance will offer an exploration of the This I Believe project, how the essays came to pass within each of the available books, and touch on the importance of writing in our daily lives. A book signing will follow.

The event will last approximately one hour and is open to the public with the courtesy of a reservation. Please visit www.aquinas.edu/students for seat reservations before November 2, in an effort to have a count for proper planning. Doors open at 7 p.m. and parking information will be provided upon receipt of the reservation. Those who may need to call in a reservation should contact the Campus Life Office at (616) 632-2983; this number can also be used for those requiring additional accommodations for the engagement.

The NPR website explains, "This I Believe is based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists, and secretaries—anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. These essayists' words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism, and racial division. These essays are now featured in weekly broadcasts on Bob Edwards' satellite and public radio shows." In reviving This I Believe, executive producer Dan Gediman says, “The goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, the hope is to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”