A quick glance at the nightly news or a cursory stroll through social media is all one needs to see how polarized this country has become, especially politically.
And those partisan differences only grow in the lead-up to a presidential election.
But discovering ways to reduce the intensity of our disagreements and find common ground as people is the focus of a campus-wide initiative underway at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University this fall.
“Disagreeing Better” was grown out of and inspired by Braver Angels – an all-volunteer, non-partisan nonprofit founded in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election to help depolarize America.
“It’s not about changing people’s minds, it’s about helping us be in relationship to one another despite our differences,” said CSB and SJU Scholar-in-Residence Carol Bruess, who is heading the initiative on campus.
“’We have a unique opportunity, as a community rooted in Benedictine values and Benedictine practices, to embrace the hard conversations about our political differences. We can and must invite such dialogue with curiosity, and want to learn another’s story. In fact, we are called to invite dialogue with others in a way that recognizes the inherent dignity of each person, even those who vote differently than we do.”
Disagreeing Better’s official launch week is scheduled for Sept. 16-20. Things start with an ice cream social and lawn games in front of the Great Hall at SJU from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 16. The event is free. The only requirement is to meet someone new and find something in common.
Then, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Bruess will offer a free workshop for students entitled “Skills for Disagreeing Better.” Those interested can register at [email protected]. The event is limited to 100.
The following day (Sept. 17), Braver Angels co-founder Bill Doherty, professor emeritus in the department of family social science at the University of Minnesota, will present the “Skills for Disagreeing Better” workshop. That event is also free and open to the entire community. It will be followed by an outdoor lawn picnic – again complete with games and fun conversation starters.
That will be followed by a free community-wide viewing of the 50-minute Braver Angels documentary entitled “Reuniting America,” and a post-viewing discussion led by Doherty and CSB and SJU Senior Diversity Officer Sandra Mitchell.
“The problem of polarization in this country has been increasing for 35 or 40 years now and it needs be addressed,” Doherty said.
“One of the things that’s happened since we started this is that a lot more groups have approached us to get involved, especially schools. The one thing most Americans agree on is that we’re too divided.”
Doherty said college campuses are ideal venues to tackle this issue.
“This is where you find the future and current leaders of our country,” he said. “People come to college to learn critical thinking skills, so that makes a campus the perfect place to take on what is a central problem of our time. We want our students to emerge as bridge builders and not bridge burners.”
The relationship-building continues Wednesday, Sept. 18, by revisiting a storied rivalry. For the first time, a group of St. Thomas students will journey to CSB and SJU to take part in the Bennie/Johnnie-Tommie Debate, which will be conducted in Braver Angels style: the goal being to “teach students to honor ideological diversity, foster civil discourse on college campuses, express their views, listen deeply and engage respectfully around the most challenging political and social issues dividing our nation today.”
A second debate will follow at St. Thomas on Oct. 7. Workshops will then continue at CSB and SJU in October and November. All are free and open to the public.
“Much of this approach is about coming back to the basics,” Bruess said. “When we say we listen with the ear of our heart, or take counsel – what does that look like?
“When you’re flooded with emotion because your candidate is being bashed by your colleague’s bumper sticker, how might we pause and come to see each other as human? How do we find some common ground? Even if we strongly disagree about politics, we still need to be in classes together and run programs with each other. Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s is such a beautiful ecosystem, and it presents us with an opportunity – because we are an educational system – to say ‘Hey, let’s be models to the world for how to do this better.”