Former FBI Director James Comey spoke to a packed Jorgensen Center this past Monday, October 15. After speaking to several other students about the event, we agreed that we were all caught by surprise. Going into this event, I had a few preconceptions about James Comey. I had to wonder about the way he handled the Hillary Clinton scandal weeks before a crucial presidential election that has changed our country forever. Frankly, I also expected Comey to have a dull and serious personality like a lot of the other politicians in Washington (at least, that’s what it seems like). James Comey’s lecture and interview with UConn president Susan Herbst met and exceeded my expectations, forcing me to leave with a much different view than what I came in with.
First and foremost, Comey’s aura stood out to me. Not only was he much larger in person (he’s a towering 6’8”), but so was his personality. On television and in the news, it is very difficult to broadcast the true personality of an individual. Comey was extremely entertaining, cracking frequent jokes about his firing, and even attempting to floss. He was able to ridicule such serious topics (i.e. the survival of our country) in a way that made us all feel comfortable. In other words, he was able to assure the tense audience that everything would be alright.
Going into it, I didn’t exactly know what Comey’s lecture was going to be about. I expected him to tell the story of his firing and his opinions on Donald Trump. In short, he did that; however, he did so much more. He used his time to relay a message that he says he has made his goal to share with young audiences, such as the students who take his class at William & Mary. His focus was all about motivating young people to lead. He said that the best leaders are “kind and tough, confident and humble.” He went on to explain his experiences with how to connect with those that you lead on a deeper level while still maintaining “toughness”, as well as how to be confident enough to sit back and listen to your colleagues without feeling the need to prove your superiority. Comey’s points were very valuable for a college-aged audience who is preparing to enter the real world.
Comey definitely spilled the tea, too. He spoke about what was weighing heaviest on my mind: the Hillary Clinton emails, which he referred to as the “email nightmare.” I gained more respect for him once he revealed the debacle that he faced during the scandal. He said that he was faced with the decision to withhold the information and thus destroy the FBI’s image as an independent force, or to release the emails knowing that it would hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Comey also made a few comments about Donald Trump, calling him “morally but not mentally incompetent,” and revealing that he has never seen Trump genuinely laugh. These anecdotes answered some hot questions and also personified Comey more as a person that we could all relate to.
What stood out to me most was James Comey’s comments on the current state of our country. It is a scary time for many people in America. Comey said that he has faith that we are going to be okay because Americans are evidently not backing down from the fight. He said that the “giant is awakening,” meaning that people (especially young people) are showing up and showing out in a way that resembles the civil rights movement of the 60s. James Comey has been through a lot. He was fired by the most powerful man in the world in a highly controversial way that left the country questioning our fate. If James Comey says everything is going to be fine, we should believe him.