Former Secretary of State Colin Powell drew the biggest crowd yet for SXU's Voices & Visions speaker series Sept. 19. - Photo courtesy Saint Xavier University

The Sisters of Mercy have a place in the heart of former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who stopped at Saint Xavier University’s Shannon Center Wednesday night for the second lecture in the SXU Voices and Visions Speaker Series.

He noted that Saint Xavier University was formed in 1846, just a year earlier than his own alma mater, the City College of New York, and that they served similar purposes.

“The Sisters of Mercy came here, and shortly after they arrived, they set about creating an institution to educate young women at a time when it might not have been the most popular thing to do,” Powell said. “But they did it because they felt that in this great city of Chicago there was a need for a place like that…and 160 years later both of these wonderful institutions are doing what they were supposed to do from the beginning: serving the community, growing with the community, changing with the community, and making sure to always give back to the community.”

It was a speech that centered largely on that theme - community, something that area residents are all too familiar with, as local media have been reporting in the week leading up to the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Mount Greenwood.

Powell told the standing-room-only crowd of 2,200 that Americans should adapt to a more dangerous world in which we live, all while keeping the faith in each other that has helped strengthen the nation throughout its history.

"We will rebuild, and we will mourn, and we will go after them," Powell said of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. "There's one thing terrorists and terrorism cannot do - it cannot change who we are as a people."

He also defended American intervention in Iraq but acknowledged that the administration has made "serious mistakes" since Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in 2003.

Powell, who served as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush, contended that the United States did not send enough troops into the war zone early on.

Yet the hour-long speech didn't take an entirely somber tone - Powell cracked a few smiles with impersonations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Gen. Powell regaled delighted audience members with stories from his long military career, leading up to serving as a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993 and later as Secretary of State under President George W. Bush.

Admitting that he wished the government was more like the people it represents, Powell hit a chord with local neighbors when he gave a nod to the working class. "What I see as I go around the country (is) people hard at work, people who believe in America, people who understand the nature of this changing world in which we are living," he said, describing them as patriotic, "full of enthusiasm" and empathetic. "We are a people that cares about the rest of the world."

“This event without a doubt solidifies the SXU Voices and Visions Speaker Series as one of the preeminent speaking engagements in the city of Chicago,” said Robert Tenczar, vice president for University Relations at Saint Xavier. “We are very grateful to Gen. Powell and the many people who worked so hard to make this a tremendous success.”