{"id":1472,"date":"2015-02-04T17:49:08","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T21:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/ebuckhor\/?page_id=1472"},"modified":"2015-02-04T17:49:08","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T21:49:08","slug":"endnote","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2017\/endnote\/","title":{"rendered":"Endnote"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Urgency of Understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n

These days, it\u2019s impossible to miss the barrage of criticisms lobbed at higher education as intolerant of opposing viewpoints and at college students as precious snowflakes unwilling to engage with difference and unprepared for the world that awaits them. Frankly, there\u2019s been too much fuel for that particular fire of late, as our colleagues on some other campuses have had to manage deep divides within their communities and some particularly ugly episodes of protest gone awry.<\/p>\n

As I write this, we\u2019re heading into commencement season, and I\u2019m worried we\u2019ll see more intolerance on campuses across the country, with calls to rescind invitations to controversial speakers and protests that disrupt ceremonies and silence voices. I hope that doesn\u2019t come to pass, because it\u2019s more important than ever that we in higher education recommit ourselves to the principles of academic freedom and self-expression, the quest for knowledge and truth, and the aim of developing global citizens who engage fully in building a just, free society.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s polarized world, we have a particular opportunity \u2014 perhaps even a singular responsibility \u2014 to provide on our campuses the conditions for engaging across differences of background and ideology and to support students in their growth as individuals and as members of a diverse community. If we do our jobs well, the future is in good hands, indeed.<\/p>\n

I see this as a central role of a college president in the 21st century. At Trinity College, we have a student body that comes from all over the world and from all backgrounds. We recently admitted a group of talented students for the Class of 2021 who come from 38 countries and 41 states and represent every part of the socioeconomic and political spectrum. But we must do more than simply bring together a diverse body of students. We must model the respectful engagement we want to see in our students, encourage their explorations of self and society, and make clear that they are responsible for building a community that\u2019s inclusive and safe \u2014 not safe from<\/em> speech or ideas that might offend or challenge, but rather safe for<\/em> them.<\/p>\n

Those principles are at the heart of why, for my first Commencement at Trinity in 2015, a retired Air Force brigadier general and former prisoner of war in Vietnam was awarded an honorary degree alongside a draft resister and renowned advocate for nonviolence. And, those principles are why, by the time you receive this magazine, we\u2019ll have heard a Commencement speech from philosopher Daniel Dennett, one of the \u201cFour Horsemen of Atheism,\u201d with the statue of our founding president, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Brownell, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, nearby \u2019neath the elms. On such celebratory occasions, we can show our students that we value difference and dialogue.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful for the work of Trinity students, faculty, and staff who\u2019ve engaged in the Campaign for Community we launched two years ago. This student-led initiative seeks to build the community we wish to be, one characterized by respect, inclusion, and collaborative partnership. This spring, as part of that effort, we\u2019re piloting an exciting workshop series for students called \u201cMeaningful Discourse Across Difficult Boundaries,\u201d in which students are learning how to listen and be heard, how to understand and engage productively with conflict, and how to relate across differences.<\/p>\n

I believe these are among the most important lessons students can learn in their time in college. They are skills that will enable students to improve the world they\u2019ll soon lead and, as Trinity\u2019s mission states, that will prepare them to be bold, independent thinkers who lead transformative lives.<\/p>\n

Watch a video of Berger-Sweeney addressing this topic on PBS NewsHour<\/em> below.<\/p>\n