ON MARCH 26, 2025, Sargent College hosted Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tracy Kidder for its annual Meredith E. Drench Lecture, in partnership with the School of Public Health, the School of Social Work, BU Wheelock College of Education and Child Development, and the Center for Forced Displacement. In a talk titled “Variations on the Problem of Goodness,” Kidder captivated a Tsai Performing Arts Center audience of more then 350 with his powerful storytelling, sharing insights from Mountains Beyond Mountains and Rough Sleepers.
Through the stories of Paul Farmer and James O’Connell, an assistant professor at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Kidder highlighted the urgent need for compassionate, community-based healthcare—whether in Haiti or on the streets of Boston. Sargent Dean Emeritus and University Provost Gloria Waters introduced Kidder. The late Meredith E. Drench founded the lecture series in 2009 to share her passion and belief in the “compassionate rehabilitation” of the whole person, and the lecture series honors Drench’s legacy and continues her mission of education and advocacy, focusing on the psychosocial aspects of rehabilitation.