J. Nick Pitts serves as the director of cultural engagement at the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture.

He came to the Denison Forum in 2014. He contributes to the Forum in the areas of geopolitics and popular culture, as well as serving as the editor of the Daily Briefing. He continues work on his doctorate and serves as an adjunct professor at DBU, teaching a master’s level course in the philosophy of leadership.

His Ph.D. research centers upon John F. Kennedy’s engagement of the religious community in the 1960 presidential campaign. He presented a paper on the topic at Calvin College’s 2015 symposium on religion and public life.

He is an editor at large for The Liberty Project, an online magazine, and his op-eds have been published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Religion News Service and Townhall.com.

He received a bachelor’s degree in 2007 from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and a master’s degree in 2009 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Allie Beth Stuckey is from Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Furman University in Greenville, SC in 2014. She was chosen to deliver her university's commencement speech, and it was that experience that confirmed her gift of and passion for communicating. Since college, Allie Beth has worked as a publicist, social media strategist, blogger and an advocate of conservative values and voter education among Millennials. She just launched her new site, The Conservative Millennial Blog, where she keeps her readers up to date on millennial happenings and conservative ideas.

Adam C. Wright was elected president of Dallas Baptist University in June 2016. Prior to his selection, Dr. Wright served at DBU as vice president and dean of the Cook School of Leadership, where he provided academic leadership and taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As dean and a faculty member, he has taught numerous courses in higher education, leadership, and global studies, supervised doctoral research, shaped curriculum, and launched new programs.

With a love for international and domestic travel, Dr. Wright has led and participated in study abroad trips in England, Israel, Italy and Guatemala. He has traveled extensively throughout the New England states, specifically visiting the colonial colleges, as one of his great academic interests in exploring the history of American higher education and the preservation of Christian scholarship within the academy. His professional memberships include the International Leadership Association, Christian Leadership Alliance, and Phi Beta Delta. Dr. Wright’s teaching specialties focus on Higher Education and Leadership Studies.

Dr. Wright is married to Candice, who received both her bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration degree from DBU. They have two daughters, Abigail Grace and Katherine Elizabeth. Adam and Candice are members of Park Cities Baptist Church, where they teach Sunday School and are actively engaged in the life of the church.

After eight years of withdrawal, what rules should the U.S. follow to effectively reassert itself in world affairs?

The most dangerous moments in foreign affairs often come after a major power seeks to reassert its lost deterrence.

The United States may be entering just such a perilous transitional period.

Rightly or wrongly, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Middle East-based terrorists concluded after 2009 that the U.S. saw itself in decline and preferred a recession from world affairs.

In that void, rival states were emboldened, assuming that America thought it could not — or should not — any longer exercise the sort of political and military leadership it had demonstrated in the past.

When people decide they have rights or authority on their side, they too often forget about the Golden Rule.

All too many people govern themselves and others in the following manner: Once they determine that they have rights or authority in any given context, they are relieved from any greater moral responsibility. They can act imperiously. They can be outraged. They can be unreasonable. After all, the law or justice or morality is on their side.

We see this phenomenon all the time in our daily lives. It’s in the clerk at the DMV who barks at you when you stand in the wrong line, the parent at your kid’s school who tears into a teacher the instant they perceive that their child has been wronged, or the supervisor at work who just can’t get over the fact that you didn’t put the cover sheets on your TPS reports. Oh, and it’s basically every single person involved in the entire fracas on United Flight 3411.

United Airlines Flight 3411 was departing Sunday from Chicago for Louisville, Kentucky. The flight was overbooked, so the airline notified passengers that it would need four people to volunteer for a later flight. None did.

The airline offered passengers $400 and a night in a hotel, but no one accepted. They increased their offer to $800 and a hotel room. Still, no one accepted. A manager then came on board to announce that a computer was going to select four passengers randomly.

A United employee first approached a couple who left the plane without incident. A third person was chosen. He told officials that he was a doctor and was needed in Louisville on Monday morning to see patients. Three security officers confronted the man as he was talking on his cell phone to his lawyer. When he refused to get up, they pulled him from his seat and dragged him from the airplane.

Democrats’ post-election autopsy boils down to a battle between ideas and identities.

At this point, it’s safe to say that Nimrata Randhawa has a far, far better chance to be the first female president of the United States than Hillary Clinton. But here’s the question: When or if Nimrata (she goes by “Nikki”) — a conservative, Indian-American daughter of immigrants who married Michael Haley, became governor of South Carolina, and is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — wins a presidential election, will Hillary’s friends and supporters hail Haley’s ascension to the White House as a tremendous achievement for women? Will the fans of intersectional feminism laud the ultimate success of a woman of color?

Not likely. At this point, we all know the drill. There is one way and one way only for women — especially black or brown women — to take a true step forward, and that’s through progressive politics. Identity politics works like this: Progressives do everything in their power to explicitly and unequivocally stoke race- and gender-related resentments and grievances. Any pushback against identity politics is labeled denialism at best and racism or sexism at worst. Progressive ideas are so self-evidently superior that opposition is best explained as grounded in misogyny or the always-reliable “fear of change.” Opposition, even from women and even from people of color, is proof of the awful and enduring power of sexism and white supremacy.

When it comes to choosing the right place for your child to spend four years of his or her life, it has to be a decision that you as a parent feel good about. So why pursue a distinctly Christian education for your child? There are many reasons why a Christian education can benefit your child.
Reinforcing values.

A Christian college reinforces the Christian values you have worked so hard to instill in your child. The college years are an important developmental stage where students will be faced with important decisions that will impact the rest of their lives. During this time in life, they are evaluating what they have been taught and forming their own beliefs and opinions about the world. College challenges them to think critically about what they believe. A Christian college provides a conducive environment for students to examine their beliefs without those beliefs being ridiculed or discounted.
Quality professors.

Christian colleges employ faculty and staff who are more likely to support your child's success in college. Look for a college that hires only Christian faculty and staff, and you will find an environment where the faculty and staff will nurture your child and help them flourish. At Christian institutions, your child is less likely to encounter "weed-out classes," and he/she will benefit from faculty members who are encouraged to pray with and for them without fear of being reprimanded.
Affordable.