The Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse initiative hosted a viewing and deliberation of “A Legacy of Hope” this past Monday, October 27, 2021. WDPD came together with the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies to host this exercise after screening the 2006 documentary. An open opportunity for students to share and voice their opinions, WDPD Fellows led facilitated group conversations and then came back together to share key points with the larger group. The film documents the rich history of the MXI, and along with the larger deliberations, challenged students to think and talk about a somewhat demanding topic. Questions started with some of the points in the movie, then shifted to inclusivity on campus. Corydon Taylor ‘24, the events lead facilitator, hoped guys were able to take what they had talked about and seen and continue those conversations.
“It is important to work with student organizations like the MXI because it allows a dialogue that can help these organizations display their values, along with any possible concerns they feel need to be addressed at Wabash,” said Taylor. “It also allows them to hear from students to more effectively address these concerns on campus. Many of our students had never seen “A Legacy of Hope” and it was a great opportunity for this documentary to make a lasting impact, even fifteen years after it was produced.”
Discussions were insightful and uncovered several overlapping themes across the groups. Across all groups, groups highlighted that the current status of campus diversity was improving; however, some groups emphasized that there was still room for improvement and that the campus should not become complacent. The discussion fostered several understandings of how complacency is seen on campus. Some groups emphasized that traditions run deep and that their history becomes culturally embedded, making it harder to encourage change.”
Mark Magnon ‘23 was another WDPD Democracy Fellow helping to lead discussions. He thought the discussions were insightful while revealing numerous overlapping themes across the groups.
“Across all groups, groups highlighted that the current status of campus diversity was improving; however, some groups emphasized that there was still room for improvement and that the campus should not become complacent,” said Magnon. “The discussion fostered several understandings of how complacency is seen on campus. Some groups emphasized that traditions run deep and that their history becomes culturally embedded, making it harder to encourage change.”
The deliberation was one of many events planned by WDPD and coming up today is an event entitled “COVID, Misinformation, and Hope: How can we build a culture of evidence-based free speech?”Details on the nature and purpose of the event and who is involved can be found on Page 6.