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
Wagner said he hoped last fall’s schedule heralds a strong and permanent campus focus on social issues. “These kinds of things have happened on campus for a long time, but this fall many things came together,” he said. “Given the tremendous outpouring of support we’ve received from the community and those who have participated in our events, I’m excited to bring more engaging activities to campus through this new initiative.” Foster is behind that effort and said he also pushes for civil discourse to be a part of classes. “Civility is critical. It has never been more critical for CMU to continue to promote that concept,” he said. Besides the marquee events at CMU, there were many smaller efforts to promote civic engagement. Students carried out a voter drive after being trained to register voters by the League of Women Voters. Long lines at a polling place located in the student center indicated that had an effect on campus. Political science students participated in polling as a lesson in how to parse political views. Numerous organized debates took place in classes. Students whose status falls under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals spoke to classes about the challenges they face. Nationally-known artist Matthew Hopson-Walker exhibited his “Poverty is the Muscle of War” show at the downtown CMU art gallery. CMU Opera presented music inspired by the Holocaust. Foster directly did his part in this effort by including a lesson on civil discourse in a Freshman Year Initiative class he taught prior to the fall semester. He posed questions to incoming students that were intended to be controversial. He emphasized listening and then making your point. Associate Professor of Political Science Justin Gollob said he promotes understanding of civic processes every day in his classrooms. His unofficial classroom motto is, “instead of raising your voice, improve your argument.” From the 100-level classes where students learn the basics of government to upper-level classes where they get directly involved in political processes, he said he strives to make politics relevant. He does that by having students carry out exercises like balancing the state budget. They attend city council meetings and learn how to write non-leading questions for political polls. “We need to keep civil discourse front and center, and model it on campus,” Gollob said. “We’re on the right trajectory to do that and we need to keep on that path. An important part of civil discourse is never to be content — to keep at it and continue to stay focused on what it brings to the campus and to the community.” Former Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Editorial Page Editor and current Criterion Advisor Bob Silbernagel shares that belief. Silbernagel recently coordinated with CMU leaders on the CMU Civics proposal to create the initiative on campus. The effort will be a first in Colorado. Silbernagel promoted the idea of a civics initiative modeled on civility centers promoted by the National Institute for Civil Discourse, an organization started to honor former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The organization promotes building civil discourse into the fabric of every college and university. Silbernagel said his passion to help was born out of frustration with the current political climate. His decades of reading letters-tothe-editor at the Sentinel showed him that the political divide was deteriorating. That has only grown worse in recent years. “It just seemed to me that a broad awareness of the history and importance of civics and civility are slipping away,” he said. “I felt like I couldn’t keep watching this and being upset about it and not try to do something.” Silbernagel would like to see a regular roster of speakers on campus, as well as educational sessions that would delve into issues such as how the tone of political ads affects outcomes as well as session about the history of civics and where ideals of civility came from. INSTEAD OF RAISING YOUR VOICE, IMPROVE YOUR ARGUMENT Class Motto for Justin Gollob, Associate Professor of Political Science