The Founders Day “Big Conversation on Civility and Civic Engagement” featured a panel of four speakers Oct. 13 in the Carmichael Student Center to discuss the importance of civility in professional, political and personal environments.
The New York Times political reporter Thomas Kaplan, who has been covering the 2016 presidential race, discussed the lack of civility in this year’s election.
Kaplan said The New York Times kept track of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s Twitter account and said that Trump has insulted 273 people, places or things on Twitter since June 2015.
Better Business Bureau Institute chairman Howard Winkler discussed incivility in society and the effects of incivility on debate.
Winkler said there is no listening being done in uncivil public business conduct.
“Instead of arguing points, we are trying to disqualify each other,” Winkler said.
Linda Johnston, the executive director for the Siegel Institute for Leadership, Ethics & Character, discussed three things that endanger democracy:
- the differences between dialogue and debate.
- things that are not illegal but not necessarily moral.
- the importance of civility.
“The goal of debate is to listen for flaws and weaknesses in the other person’s argument,” Johnston said. “The goal of dialogue is to listen to understand.”
Johnston said civility involves respect, restraint and responsibility.
Nurudeen Akinyemi, the director of the Center for African and African Diaspora Studies, explained the various aspects of democracy, including the importance of student engagement in fostering community and the role of social media.
Akinyemi said social media can enrich democracy but can also perpetuate incivility through anonymity.
Winkler added that debates need to be based upon respect in order to be productive, no matter how lively and heated they are.
“In order to have a real functioning democracy, I think we need to respect each other,” Akinyemi said.
The panel opened up to questions from the audience at the end. Twitter users could also join in by using the hashtag #KSUBigConversation16. The live Twitter feed was projected at the front of the room.
Ethan Brasseaux, a freshman dance major, enjoyed the event.
“I think it was really important for students with a more closed mind to hear,” Brasseaux said. “I think it’s important to touch on civility because a lot of that has been lost throughout this whole entire election process.”
He said the panel was accurate about the mainstream media portrayal of candidates catering to specific points of views, such as the more conservative reporting of Fox News.
“Before today, I don’t feel as if students were encouraged to exercise their right to assemble and fight for the things they believe in,” Brasseaux said.
