Initiatives Across Campus Create Opportunities for Civil Discourse

Recognizing that improving the level of reasoned dialogue and debate on Tulane’s campuses is vital to its core value of academic excellence, Tulane recently announced plans for a new Center for Civil Discourse. The center will strengthen support for interdisciplinary collaboration, public engagement and dialogue among faculty and students from schools throughout the university.

“The center’s purpose is not to advocate specific positions but to build the skills and reinforce the values necessary for open inquiry and free expression within the university community,” Tulane President Michael A. Fitts wrote in a university-wide message co-authored by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robin Forman and Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer Patrick Norton. “By bringing together faculty, students, staff and community members, the initiative aims to strengthen civic engagement and contribute to the social and intellectual fabric of New Orleans and society as a whole,” the leaders wrote.

The Center for Civil Discourse will build on existing efforts across the university by supporting courses and workshops. Additional initiatives of the center will include a common book reading program, interdisciplinary research grants and the appointment of faculty with expertise in civil engagement.

Plans for the center are part of Tulane’s ongoing commitment to academic excellence, free expression and open inquiry.

Another major initiative promoting civil discourse at Tulane is the Civic Engagement Fellowship, a nonpartisan, student-led program within the Center for Public Service. The Civic Fellows program aims to promote civic collaboration and participation among the student body.

In April, the group hosted the Civic Summit, a week-long series of events centered around open dialogue, political participation, advocacy and media literacy. The summit featured the panel “Freedom of Speech and Civil Dialogue,” which focused on civil discussions encompassing a wide variety of perspectives. It also included a moderated conversation between student organizations representing a variety of viewpoints.

Morgan Bennett (SLA ’26), who recently graduated with a double major in political science and social policy and coordinated the summit, noted that the panel was her favorite part of the event. “I was able to have so many great conversations with people from different backgrounds,” she said.

Weekly events throughout campus are also strengthening conversations and connection among the Tulane community from a range of different perspectives. On Wednesdays during the spring semester, Community Table Talks in the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life provided an opportunity for students to sit down together and meaningfully connect with each other over lunch. During the course of the meal, Resolution Specialist Matt Wegmann guided attendees through conversation prompts, such as “What does community mean to you?”

“If we can create a good place for community and dialogue, then we can address more challenging topics that students want to talk about,” said Wegmann.

The talks draw from the idea that a shared meal can build bridges between people who come from different backgrounds and hold varied viewpoints. It is a concept that was on display in November when more than 500 students, faculty and staff broke bread at The Longest Table on Berger Family Lawn as part of International Education Week. Attendees were seated randomly and prompted to get to know each other through conversation cards — each suggesting a different topic of discussion — at the table.

Campus leaders said that the Civic Summit, Community Table Talks and the Longest Table work in tandem with larger initiatives and events, including the Center for Civil Discourse, the Future of Energy Forum and the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, to foster an environment of mutual respect, discussions across differences and curiosity throughout the university.