Civil discourse in an election year

“Your participation here today shows your commitment to learning,” said UD President Dennis Assanis as we welcomed the crowd. “Why is this so important? Because the future of the nation depends on each of you. Your willingness and enthusiasm to be here is an important milestone in building relationships and having the respectful and honest discussions that are the very foundation of a functioning democracy.”

Biden School Interim Dean Joe Traynor expanded on those sentiments as he addressed the crowd, drawing on the school’s deeply rooted values ​​of democratic citizenship, including civil discourse, civic engagement and service to others.

“The SNF Ithaca National Student Dialogue is a testament to the belief that we have choices in how we interact with each other,” he said. “Each of you brings your own perspectives, experiences and beliefs. We are here to learn from this rich and diverse set of differences, to find strength in what unites us, and to imagine the possibilities of what could be.”

“How we treat each other, how we represent our communities, how we work to find ways to live together and respect each other—these are actions that will determine the future of our democracy,” he continued. “We must believe that democracy thrives on our empathy, our ability to see the humanity in each other. It fails when we allow fear and disagreement to tear us apart.”

Expanding Campus Conversations

Since the launch of the first Dialogue program in 2022, attendance at both individuals and institutions has grown, from 55 faculty, students and staff representing 17 colleges and universities to 120 representing 35. The guest list also included six of the seven schools named in honor of the US Democratic and Republican parties. presidents, another symbol of the group’s collective commitment to building bipartisan ties in the name of democracy.

“We have been very pleased to see how the National Student Dialogue has grown since its inception,” said SNF Co-Director of Programs Casey Russo. “This is evidence that productive dialogue between people is not only important to the health of our democracy, but is also something that young people consider important in their lives and actively seek out. This gives us hope for the future, and we are very proud to support SNF Ithaca in providing similar opportunities for community exchange.”

Also present was the first employee who had previously participated in the event as a student. Willow Paul, now associate director of the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative at Davidson College, first joined two years ago as a graduate student at the Center for Public Debate at Colorado State University.

“For me, that was really the moment where I felt like my commitment to this work was strengthened because I saw how many organizations, how many schools, were committed to this work,” she said. “I want to help my students find that same inspiration at the event, help them network and try to understand where other universities and colleges are coming from, what problems they face on their campuses and how they solve those problems. problems.”