New York Times columnist and conservative pundit David Brooks gave a speech at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum tonight. The speech was followed by an extended question-answer session, in the main dining room filled to capacity with CMC students, faculty and a number of guests.

“Being a conservative columnist at the New York Times is like being Chief Rabbi at Mecca,” joked Brooks about working for a newspaper that many believe to have liberal-leaning ideologies.

I am used to being in the minority. In high school, my social circle consisted mostly of male friends. Of my closest girlfriends, I was the only one to select a private college to attend upon graduation. At college, I decided to major in History with a Gender & Women’s Studies sequence, sealing my minority status. And now, I am in the minority of students at Claremont McKenna shunning the “Obamania” around me and declaring my support for Senator Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential election.