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, former speaker of the House of Representatives, easily moved from lecturer to town hall host Thursday night as he initiated a rigorous dialogue with students and community members who filled every available seat and lined the aisles of Memorial Chapel.

Gingrich spoke without notes during his lecture, in which he said America is in a very dangerous place with an economic situation not seen in 80 years.

No one has a clue on how to address the crisis, he said, including members of Congress who are “culpable, not capable.”

Striking a populist tone at times, Gingrich advised audience members to view the recovery efforts with caution.

“Over the next three, four or five months, read, watch, think. Don’t assume that the lessons learned in the last forty years apply. We’re in the early stages of fundamental change. You have to go back to first principles because you don’t have a road map to help you.”

Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich speaks in a jam-packed Memorial Chapel. (Photo by Andy Daddio)

A fundamental principle that Gingrich referred to received a great deal of applause from the audience: “The conversation we should have been having for the past two years that none of our political leaders has the nerve to have is: If you can’t afford to buy a house … I think you know the other half of that statement”

Gingrich, who served 20 years in Congress and won widespread recognition for developing the Republican Party’s “Contract with America” in 1994, lambasted the CEOs of Citigroup and other struggling financial institutions.

But throwing taxpayer money at failing banks is not the way to go, he said, because it doesn’t create the momentum needed to enact meaningful change.

“I hope people do listen to him and work to make changes,” Sarah Demaree ’09 said after listening to Gingrich. She will work as an intern this summer in the Washington D.C. office of Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican from Oregon.

Gingrich took numerous questions from audience members, ranging from the economy, AIG bonuses, church-state issues, and gay marriage.

“People react to him strongly, and the question-and-answer session gave it that vitality,” said Robert Kraynak, professor of political science and director of the , which co-sponsored the event with the College Republicans.

“Because we have begun a new era in American politics with the Obama administration, I believe we need to begin a respectful but critical discussion about whether that administration is leading us in the right direction or the wrong direction and whether America is heading for prosperity or decline,” said Kraynak. “Newt Gingrich is the best person in America today to lead us in this discussion.”