James H. Cone, widely credited with founding the black theology movement, spoke Thursday in Memorial Chapel about his seminal works from nearly 40 years ago and his current research, which focuses on the emotional symbols of the cross and the lynching tree.

Cone said his lecture was intended to start a conversation, and students and faculty members took him up on that as they asked questions about everything from atheism to President Obama's impact on race relations.

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives, will deliver a lecture at 7:30 p.m. March 26 in Memorial Chapel.

During his talk, "President Obama & the Future of the American Freedom," Gingrich will assess Obama's policies and administration and discuss the future of the Republican Party.

Gingrich's lecture, sponsored by the university's Center for Freedom and Western Civilization and the College Republicans, is free and open to the public.

The twists and turns and trials and tribulations of the economic crisis are forcing government officials to reshape policies on a day-by-day basis in ways that have not been seen in decades, says economics professor Nicole Simpson.

While there now seems to be agreement that new regulations are needed to address the crisis, government officials must walk a fine line in determining what will do the most good over the long term, she says.

"It's going to be a very tricky balance because you want the markets to work efficiently," Simpson says in the latest episode of Colgate Conversations, a podcast series that highlights members of the campus community.

Students, staff, and faculty members packed into Donovan's Pub Tuesday night to watch election results and many returned, a bit bleary-eyed from staying up so late, this morning to attend a forum sponsored by the Department of Political Science.

Even though the presidential campaign lasted nearly two years, the final few hours of Election Night were electric for those at the pub watching to see which way the key swing states would actually swing.

Instead of flipping through the television channels to find the latest take on the presidential campaign, more than 400 people packed into New York City's Axa Equitable Center Monday night to hear election analysis firsthand from a panel featuring Colgate alumni in the journalism field.

Newsweek chief political correspondent and senior editor Howard Fineman '70, who has interviewed every major presidential candidate since 1984, told the audience of alumni and friends that "this has been an election of a lifetime to cover."

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and potential victory Nov. 4 represent a major shift in how the political system is going to reflect the U.S. populace, according to Colgate professor Pete Banner-Haley.

Haley talks about the historic nature of the Illinois senator's campaign in the latest episode of Colgate Conversations, a series of podcast interviews that highlights members of the Colgate community.

Conor Tucker '10 wants to give classmates the chance to be political pundits and not have to rely on "talking heads" to shape their opinions about the presidential candidates.

So he has helped organize events that bring students together to watch the presidential and vice presidential debates and share discussion afterward.

Students gathered in the O'Connor Campus Center last week to engage in formal political discussion as part of a mock Democratic caucus.

With tensions running high between the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, students hoped the caucus process would help them better understand the candidates and their platforms.

The radio show must go on.

And so it did for Arnie Arnesen, a political analyst and longtime radio and TV show host who visited Colgate Tuesday to talk to students about the presidential primaries.

Arnesen has been on talk radio for nearly 20 years, and each weekday hosts the Chowder in the Morning program, which is available online and on AM radio and public access TV stations throughout southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.

A last-minute scramble to get on the air landed Arnesen and her husband, Marty, in office space in McGregory Hall early Tuesday morning.