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SMU Seal 2021-2022 Annual Report Available Now

View the Maguire Ethics Center's 2021-2022 Annual Report using the link above.

Cary Maguire Passes Away, Leaving Legacy of Scholarship in Ethics

Cary Maguire, businessman, philanthropist, and benefactor of the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at the Kluge Center, passed away at age 93 on August 10, 2021, at his home in Dallas.

Remembering Founder Cary M. Maguire | August 18, 2021

Cary Maguire, Dallas businessman, philanthropist and namesake of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at SMU. Dallas businessman and philanthropist Cary Maguire dies at 93

Cary McIlwaine Maguire Sr., a Dallas businessman and philanthropist whose charity left an indelible mark on Southern Methodist University, died Tuesday at his home. He was 93.

Remembering Founder Cary M. Maguire | August 15, 2021

Cary Maguire, Sr., community leader SMU remembers Cary Maguire, Sr., community leader

SMU mourns the loss of Cary M. Maguire, Sr., trustee emeritus and former SMU Board of Trustees member, who passed away on Tuesday, August 10, at the age of 93. Maguire, a long-standing leader in the community, was among some of SMU’s most active and generous donors, as well as a dedicated and innovative leader in the energy industry.

Remembering Founder Cary M. Maguire | August 11, 2021

Seeing Well and Leading Well 

When entrepreneurialism and academia collide, you end up with a conversation that gets to the heart of discourse in our culture. Mitch is joined by Rita Kirk in an interview that brings new perspectives to a world where communication is easy to access but hard to master.

Dr. Rita Kirk | The Whole Enchilada Podcast | 4/12/2021

We sacrificed working moms to survive the pandemic; it’s time to share the burden

As society inches toward reopening and returns to work en masse, how can we reconcile the impossible asks and unprecedented strain on working mothers?

Adria Richmond | USA Today | 4/7/2021

The Necessity of Pivoting: Interviews in the Future of Our Field

As a soon-to-be graduate with an MFA in costume design, I thought I would be riding high this year—hustling and making moves to launch myself into a decades-long lucrative career in design. Lofty, yes, but that’s truly how I felt things were going to go—I had been kicking butt. It all came to a screeching halt in the short span of four days in the middle of March. All at once my prospects were cancelled. My summer plans were gone, and my upcoming production was eliminated the same day I was let go from my assistant job at a regional theatre. I found myself at a bar on a Friday evening trying not to cry while Celine Dion blasted over the speakers.

Former Public Service Fellow Janice Rabian | HowlRound Theatre Commons | 11/16/2020

Politicians have flouted COVID-19 rules they imposed. The hypocrisy has made it harder to enforce them.

To the public’s chagrin, some of America’s political leaders have been caught preaching one thing on the coronavirus and practicing another.

Sure, politicians have long been called out for hypocrisy. But during a pandemic that’s forced millions into seclusion and left many without paychecks, such actions can feel like a personal insult — reinforcing the idea “that some people just don’t have to follow the rules while the rest of us do,” says Rita Kirk, a professor of communications at Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Rita Kirk in USA Today | 12/16/2020

Why Ethics Education is Vital Today

In educational institutions today, students must grapple with real life-and-death decisions, writes Rita Kirk.

Dr. Rita Kirk | Inside Higher Ed | 10/28/2020

Students Set Direction for SMU Ethics Center

Social distancing and self-isolation, “requires discipline, mental toughness, and courage; not traits I particularly associated with myself.” This was an early realization shared by Southern Methodist University junior Rylee Bailey in her March, 2020 pandemic blog. Bailey, a student staff member at SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility, began writing and sharing the blog on social media when the campus shutdown.

Dr. Rita Kirk, Candy Crespo, and Rylee Bailey featured in The National Ethics Project's October Spotlight | 10/10/20

Rylee Bailey and the Ethics of Politics in 2020

In this episode, Rylee Bailey joins the conversation to talk about politics in the frame of ethics and her experiences as a college student at SMU during her first-ever Presidential Election.

Rylee Bailey on The Political Principle Podcast | 10/2020

In Kenosha, Biden Tries to thread the needle on protests and violence

Former Vice President Joe Biden took a strong stance this week against protest-related violence in cities from Portland, Oregon, to Kenosha, Wisconsin – where he paid a visit Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump came to survey the damage and express his support for law enforcement.

Dr. Rita Kirk featured in the Christian Science Monitor | 9/3/2020

New Poll Shows More Texans Disapprove of President Trump's Handling of Pandemic

President Donald Trump is making changes in how he’s handling coronavirus publicly amid declining polls nationally and in Texas.

Dr. Rita Kirk on CBS 11 | 7/24/2020