Now more than ever,
there is a need for constructive dialogue
among those with differing and often opposing points of view.
In an increasingly polarized world,
how can we challenge our own thinking?
Open our minds to differing or conflicting views?
and learn from those who disagree with us?
Can we talk about that?
How can we talk with each other?
How can we engage more deeply?
Could we discuss this in more depth?
A commitment to free inquiry and meaningful debate is the foundation
of the Institute for Freedom and Community at St. Olaf College.
We use the words 'freedom' and 'community' in the name of the Institute
because we believe that almost every issue is defined by
this relentless tension between our love of freedom and our devotion of community.
Sometimes people are talking with family members who are quite different from them,
or close friends, and the tension there is
between getting along and really getting at deep identity concerns.
Those issues of freedom and community come back again,
and again, and again.
We're dedicated to the idea of making sure there are a wide range of voices,
a wide range of positions, having a seat at the table.
The institute has a simple but ambitious goal,
to foster robust discussion of critical issues facing America and the world.
I think it really opens up your viewpoints
and it opens up your frame of thinking
so that you're aware of issues bigger than yourself, and bigger than this campus.
Fundamentally, the goal of the institute is to create a forum on
campus that both delivers that kind of
reflective, principled, deliberative engagement,
and at the same time that
models this ideal for our students who
are going forth into the world.
St. Olaf College, with its intense
academic program that sharpens minds and
a faith tradition that honors different perspectives,
is ideally suited to be home to an institute created to foster healthy dialogue.
From my vantage point
we're really looking to build a forum,
we're looking to open communication channels.
The whole point of the program
is to look at political questions and
issues through an interdisciplinary lens.
We believe that our mission is to take
on issues that are of vital importance and
are often contentious.
One of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges,
St. Olaf College offers a distinctive
education by cultivating the habits of mind and heart.
St. Olaf College fully prepares students to make a meaningful difference in a changing world.
We're not just another public affairs program
but we're public affairs program
rooted in the liberal arts.
The Institute for Freedom and Community sponsors programs
ranging from symposiums that
feature nationally respected speakers
addressing current issues, to internships
for students interested in careers in public affairs.
The Institute has sponsored events on a
broad range of contested issues:
income inequality, race in America, race and policing in America,
the papal ecyclical on climate change, to name a few.
Given the resources of the Institute,
we've been able to bring in speakers of
of a caliber and a profile that are typically hard to get.
It was really interesting to see three different people
with three different backgrounds
and their takes on it.
One of the major initiatives of the institute is the
sponsorship of the Public Affairs Conversation.
PACON is a co-curricular academic program
that is open to interested juniors and seniors,
regardless of their academic major.
Participants from a wide range of
interests and backgrounds are part of a
two course sequence, followed by a paid
internship in a public affairs setting.
When I first heard about the Public Affairs Conversation,
I knew it was something I had to be a part of
I have always loved politics, it's one of my really big passions.
The Public Affairs Conversation program is part of the
St. Olaf curriculum, which was approved
by St. Olaf faculty.
When I read the reading list I thought, here's where I'd like to go back to college.
I'd like to be able to take PACON myself.
It invites students to read some of the
great works that inform how our country operates.
A lot of people came up to me
and said, should I apply for PACON this next year
and I said yes, do it.
I think it's a really good way to talk
with students about issues that you
might disagree about but you, through
those disagreements, you learn how to
talk through issues in a healthy and constructive way.
When a student admits to me that you know, that's not my view
my convictions are elsewhere, but I see
now for the first time, how a reasonable
person might hold the view with which I disagree.
I've had a number of moments like that in teaching the Public Affairs Conversation,
and for me they are ecstatic teaching moments.
Students, faculty and the community at large
benefit from the commitment to
practicing civil discourse and inquiry.
The Institute will have a far-reaching
effect and impact, and can serve as a
model across the globe.
Our job is to think, and to probe, and to
go in a relentless and even fearless search for new ideas.
I hope that the institute is thought of
whether now or at some point in the future as
a forum for open dialogue.
We could provide a model for civil discourse that
can serve as an exemplar, both in the local community,
and perhaps beyond.
The St. Olaf institute for Freedom and Community,
dialogue that opens minds.