2022 McMillan Lecturer, Jamil Zaki, Shares Techniques for Practicing Empathy

On November 15, The Grosse Pointe Academy welcomed to campus Jamil Zaki, author of “The War for Kindness” and Director of the Stanford Neuroscience Lab, as the 2022 William Charles McMillan, III Lecture speaker.

A community event, Zaki discussed how we can build empathy, how empathy works, why it matters, and what we can do to increase it through deliberate practice.

“If there’s one takeaway from this discussion, I hope it’s empowerment,” said Zaki. “We as humans are constantly changing and can increase our empathy. I hope you feel empowered to do so.  It’s not the big things that we do in a lifetime. It’s the small things we do every day and the small acts of kindness that make the biggest impact.”

Zaki shared techniques such as practicing meditation, cultivating diverse friendships and sharing stories as ways attendees can deliberately practice empathy and use it as a way to bridge differences.

“Learning not only how faculty and staff can practice empathy, but also how we can create a culture of empathy to pass on to our students was an amazing experience,” said Katie Trupiano, Director of Student Services for The Grosse Pointe Academy.

The McMillan Lecture is an endowed annual lectureship dedicated to the memory of former Grosse Pointe Academy student, William Charles McMillan III.  William believed that anyone could make a significant impact on the world no matter one’s age, size or circumstance. To honor William’s short life and his many special contributions, his parents, Thayer and Gioconda McMillan endowed the William Charles McMillian Lecture Series in 1994 in memory of their son. The lectures are dedicated to the proposition that every child can reach beyond his or her own limitations, that each child makes a lasting impact on the community, and that each child makes the world a better place.

For additional information about the history of the William McMillan III Lecture click here.