Manhattan ? Gov. Sam Brownback has some advice for Kansas college students: While you’re training your mind and acquiring knowledge, develop your heart and learn to build strong relationships, too.

“I see a lack of relationships in this society,” the Republican governor told students during an appearance this week at Kansas State University. “I love being governor of the state of Kansas, but to move things through (the Legislature), you need to have relationships with people. How much easier would it be if we all knew each other — if we had a relationship?”

Brownback’s talk to members of Delta Upsilon fraternity and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority was a marked departure, in both its content and its informality, from his speechmaking during 14 years in the U.S. Senate and now as governor.

“He gave his own thoughts, and he didn’t speak politically,” Steven Godlewski, a junior, told The Manhattan Mercury. “I thought it was kind of cool to hear him talk so informally.”

Brownback is a graduate of Kansas State, where he belonged to another fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho. His son was a member of Delta Upsilon at the university.

He encouraged those in his audience to think of themselves as members of society.

“There are no spare people in America or in this state,” he said. “We need you all fully engaged, pursuing that particular calling that’s yours. Each of you has a different one. Spend five minutes tonight, and know what yours is.”

And, he said, they should devote part of their college years not only to intellectual work but to emotional development.

“One of the big losses in society in America today is that we’ve got people with well-trained minds but not well-formed hearts,” he said. “Really smart, very analytical, but they don’t care much about others. … People want to know you really do care.”