Montana State University's 2026 First Year Student Convocation book selection is "Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error" by author, journalist and public speaker Kathryn Schulz. 

 

Cover of the book "Being Wrong" by Kathryn Schulz

The book makes the case that mistakes are not just failings but are instead fundamental to how people think, learn and grow. Schulz examines why people cling to certainty, how our minds deceive us and how confronting human fallibility can deepen one's connection to and understand of other people. 

All first-year students are provided a copy of the annual convocation book as a gift from the president's office and are asked to read it before the event. 

Schulz has been a book critic for New York Magazine and has also published her work in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Foreign Policy, The Nation and The Boston Globe, among others. She has served as the editor of Grist, an online environmental magazine, and in 2004 she received the Pew Fellowship in International Journalism. 

Convocation is the formal welcome to MSU's incoming class, where the university focuses on the academic, intellectual and personal journeys of its first-year students on their way to becoming the graduating class of 2030. This will be MSU's 19th convocation.

The event starts at 5 p.m. in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse and is free and open to the public. 

"Kathryn Schulz's 'Being Wrong' serves as a reminder that facing uncertainty and changing your mind are essential parts of the learning process. I hope reading this book can help our students as they navigate college, from dealing with challenging coursework to simply meeting new people and encountering different viewpoints."

— MSU President Brock Tessman

More Information

For more information, please contact:

Office of the President
Leonardo Marra, Events Manager
406-994-2345
leonardo.marra@montana.edu

Disabled students wishing to request an accommodation may contact 406-994-2824.

Last updated: Feb. 19, 2026