Malcolm Nance has conducted intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, trained soldiers in interrogation techniques and witnessed combat firsthand. But he had never before spoken in a true public forum.
The Philomathean Society invited Nance, a counterterrorism specialist, to speak at its Annual Oration on Tuesday in Logan Hall.
His presentation was a motivational and heartfelt speech that mixed personal experiences with commentary on global events that occurred before and after Sept. 11.
Nance gave the exact same speech to the Center for Naval Analyses just last week. He aims to show Americans that "there is something wrong going on" with the War on Terrorism.
Coming back to the United States after serving abroad, Nance was fascinated by the widely held, and often incorrect, perceptions of what was going on overseas.
"You have to respect" terrorists, Nance said. "We are just a speed bump in the road to their ultimate objective," he added, saying that terrorists' primary goal is the overthrow of the Saudi government, but the United States stands in their way.
Nance served for more than 20 years within the U.S. intelligence community as an operator, cryptologist, interrogator and instructor.
College sophomore Megan Davidow attended the event because of her background as an international relations major. She thought Nance was "a good choice for a speaker."
Davidow was interested to hear what Nance had to say on the subject of war since he has experienced it firsthand.
When asked what his main objective was in coming to speak to Penn students, Nance said, "It appears as though Americans are compromising their core values, and that upsets me. When did we start to love war as a core American value?"
Nance sees Penn as an "incubator of ideas."
When thinking about the wars, he asks himself when it will all be enough and has high hopes that young people of today will be able to provide him with an answer sometime in the near future.
Despite the controversial nature of Nance's speech, organizers were still impressed with the impact of his presentation.
"Whether or not people agreed with what he had to say, he gave everyone something to think about," said College junior Bryan Fields, who helped organize the event.
The event drew a crowd of about 75 undergraduates and community members.
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