Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau, Dean of Students Thomas Mogan, and Associate Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Tony Penna. (Lee Pellegrini)
Members of the University community, including many students, gathered last Thursday to hear thoughts from three senior Boston College administrators on how to promote rational discourse at Boston College, and beyond.
Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau, Dean of Students Thomas Mogan and Associate Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Tony Penna, were the speakers for the event, 鈥淢aintaining Community Throughout Difficult Conversations,鈥� held as part of the Fireside Chat series sponsored by University Libraries, the Office of the Provost, Student Affairs, and Campus Ministry.聽
University Librarian Thomas Wall moderated the 45-minute discussion, which took place in the O鈥橬eill Library Reading Room. Audience members had the opportunity to follow up in a subsequent Q&A session.聽
鈥淒uring the last presidential campaign, I think we all realized the prevalence of this 鈥楨veryone has an opinion, but no one cares to listen鈥� rhetoric,鈥� said Wall, in an interview.聽
鈥淥ne thing that makes Boston College so special is its sense of community, so the provost and Council of Deans and I decided it would be a good idea to have a chat around not one particular ideology, but how 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 community is maintained in a time when people are very impassionate with their political viewpoints.鈥�
Wall stressed the importance of the event being co-sponsored by the three pillars of academics, student affairs, and campus ministry.聽
Each has a role to play in 鈥渕oving us away from anti-intellectualism and towards rational discourse,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f any one of those three pillars took a step back, it would take away from our motto 鈥楨ver to excel.鈥欌��
Head Librarian for Assessment and Outreach Carli Spina used those three pillars to focus her outreach efforts across campus to ensure the event would reach a broad potential audience of interested students, faculty and staff.
鈥淚鈥檓 really pleased with how the event turned out,鈥� said Spina. 聽鈥淭he panelists brought insightful perspectives to this timely topic, represented the 蝌蚪直播 character and response, and did a great job of answering the audiences questions.鈥�
Wall called the Fireside Chat series an experiment, albeit an 鈥渆xcellent鈥� one, and said organizers would consider continuing it in the fall semester.
鈥淢ost issues in society are far more nuanced than opinions,鈥� said Wall. 聽鈥淲e need to take heart of the idea of being good citizens, and try to understand different viewpoints.
鈥淐onversations are difficult and divisive because people are so invested in their own opinions. Boston College aims to transcend opinions and look towards truth.鈥�
鈥揝iobhan Sullivan / University Communications