The Maverick magazine is a great way to stay in touch with current events at your alma mater, old classmates and the bright future of Colorado Mesa University.
Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1080357
Accommodating and promoting diverse opinions on the CMU campus has taken place through serious events such as formal debates and academic speeches. It also has taken on a more colorful countenance through controversial guest speakers and thought-provoking theatre presentations. In all arenas, it has followed a maxim that former Wyoming Senator and noted plain talker Alan Simpson mentioned in a speech on the CMU campus several years ago: “Set the BS aside and look at the facts.” “CMU is a vital crossroads for ideas in western Colorado,” said Derek Wagner, CMU vice president for intergovernmental and community affairs. “What you’ve seen in recent months is our campus coming together with a very broad range of leaders to provide more and more opportunities for civic engagement and civil discourse. In 2019, we’re excited to build on this success in order to get more people talking to one another.” CMU is not alone in this endeavor. The drive to promote civility related to civics is part of a nationwide effort. Other colleges are taking steps that include having students from diverse backgrounds live together or sit down together for occasional dinners. Some universities are doing studies on how to handle incendiary speakers and are training some students to run campus-wide discussions on important social issues. The Association of American Colleges and Universities has been stressing the importance of these efforts since the organization conducted a study in 2012 and produced a report for the U.S. Department of Education. It called for making civil discourse an educational priority. It put the onus on higher education institutions to assure that students leave college with the skills and knowledge needed to be informed, civicallyengaged citizens. The report cited the danger of not taking this on as a highereducation mission — noting the current breakdown in public discourse, and having an uninformed public, as having the potential to eat away at the core of democracy. The national Center for Civic Education, a nonprofit that advocates for increased civics learning in the country, is pushing the idea that civil discourse is not possible without a knowledge of civics. CMU plans to take the historical angle within the initiative. Without knowing about the basis for government structure and laws, the center warns, it is difficult to sift out false claims from elected officials, to turn around low voter turnout, to avoid getting caught in hateful vitriol and to understand what is and isn’t fake news. “Learning the history of civics and exploring where civility comes from has never been more important,” said CMU President Tim Foster, a former state legislator who served when bipartisan cooperation was the norm. “But it is striking how unsuccessful society has been at overcoming the loss of civic awareness and civility. To move forward, part of our initiative will be to look into the past at how American democracy was formed and how our basic freedoms are sustained.”