The School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) at UNC-Chapel Hill began offering courses and extra-curricular programming in the fall 2024 semester. Eighty-five students enrolled in SCiLL courses and hundreds more attended events outside the classroom, including a free speech orientation, a symposium focused on democracy, and a debate on affirmative action in Carolina’s admission process.
Free speech orientation pilot session
SCiLL kicked off the fall semester in August by hosting “Free Speech and Civil Discourse,” a free speech orientation for approximately 130 first-year students. During the highly interactive session, students learned the history of free speech at Carolina and practiced civil discourse with one another.
A Chronicle of Higher Education article on campus efforts to promote free speech described the civil discourse component of the program. SCiLL faculty posed to students statements such as “Some ideas and perspectives are simply too harmful for people to be allowed to express them” or “Civility is always desirable in democratic life.” Students then moved to corners of the room marked with signs indicating levels of agreement or disagreement; they explained the reasons for their views and after hearing others’ viewpoints could move around the room to reflect their evolving perspectives. “It’s kind of a fun exercise,” faculty member Christian Lundberg told Carolina’s The Well. “[Students] move back and forth to demonstrate where they stand on an issue.” The goal of the orientation session was to make freedom of expression and civil discourse fundamental parts of the Carolina student experience from their first days on campus. Based on the success of the pilot session, all incoming first-year students will participate in the free speech orientation in fall 2025. Read more about the orientation session in The Well and Chronicle of Higher Education.
September symposium on democracy
On Sept. 27, SCiLL hosted its inaugural public event, “Is Democracy on the Ballot?” at Wilson Library. Nationally recognized thought leaders from across the political spectrum came together to discuss the November 2024 election, including
- Leah Litman, Professor of Law, University of Michigan
- John McGinnis, Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University
- Jeff Sharlet, Professor, Dartmouth University
- Sarah Rogers, First Amendment attorney
- Aaron Sibarium, Journalist, Washington Free Beacon
- Shadi Hamid, Columnist, The Washington Post
McGinnis later reflected on his experience in a column titled “Reopening the American Mind” in City Journal: “The symposium was a model of balanced discourse, with equal representation from liberal (in the American sense of the word) speakers and conservative, or at least anti-liberal, speakers (in that same sense),” he wrote. “We not only gave speeches but challenged one another’s arguments and premises. The student questions reflected the full ideological spectrum and were polite yet probing. Far from being a ‘safe space for conservatives,’ the event was designed to foster civil disagreement and the exchange of diverse viewpoints.”
Asa Gerend, a first-year student from Durham, was a first-time voter in 2024 who attended the symposium. Like McGinnis, he appreciated the respectful exchange of viewpoints. “Even in the midst of a heated election, students and speakers could still come together to think deeply and talk respectfully about a controversial issue,” Gerend said. “I would say that most people on this campus would view UNC as pretty politically charged—especially with Israel-Palestine protests last spring—so being able to discuss something contentious like the election with civility was extremely encouraging. Civil conversation around heated topics is actually tangible and needs to be pursued more.”
Braver Angels Debate on Affirmative Action
Carolina’s Program for Public Discourse has long been focused on supporting a culture of robust public argument through curricular and extra-curricular engagement. Now part of SCiLL, PPD continues to provide opportunities for students to learn and hone skills related to civil discourse. On Oct. 23, PPD’s Agora Fellows program welcomed approximately 80 students to participate in a thoughtful debate concerning the merits of affirmative action and UNC-Chapel Hill’s responsibility to foster diversity following the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that universities can no longer consider race when making admissions decisions.
Specifically, the students debated this question: “As North Carolina’s flagship institution, does UNC have a responsibility to ensure its student demographics reflect those of the state?” Co-hosted with the College Debates and Discourse Alliance, the forum featured participants who shared competing perspectives in a supportive environment, facilitated by a trained moderator.
“Participating in the Braver Angels debate allowed me to engage with different perspectives on affirmative action while articulating my own views,” said Agora Fellow Brendan Lynch, a senior from Cary, N.C. “It was a breath of fresh air listening to members of the UNC community present their own opinions and respectfully debate the relevant facts.”
The Agora Fellows program provides undergraduate students a space to experiment with public discourse in a collaborative environment. Under the tutelage of PPD’s executive director, Kevin Marinelli, students meet regularly throughout the year to engage with a variety of timely and timeless issues of public concern over a range of discursive modes including dialogue, debate, and critical reflection.
To learn more about SCiLL’s work, view a list of courses and a calendar of upcoming events.