Dialogue for Democracy
In today鈥檚 political landscape, the gulf between Democrats and Republicans has never felt wider. 听
Americans hold deeply negative views of those across the aisle, with more than 8 in 10 expressing the belief that 鈥淩epublicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems,鈥 according to
But on July 22, during an event sponsored by the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics, young leaders from both parties cut through that noise and engaged with each other about what unites鈥攏ot divides鈥擥eneration Z.
鈥淲e鈥檙e coming to a point in our country where we鈥檙e often seeing our political opponents as our enemies. Our opponents are just that鈥攖hey鈥檙e our opponents,鈥 said Courtney Hope Britt, national chair of the College Republican National Committee. 鈥淭hey are not our enemies. . . . At the end of the day, the Democrats are not rooting for the demise of our nation. They just have a different way of getting to a lot of the same visions that I have. We want a lot of the same things. We simply disagree about how to get there.鈥
Britt was joined by Carolyn Salvador Avila, national president of the College Democrats of America. The important conversation occurred nine days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and just two days after President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of a more important year or time that [this event came] together,鈥 said Amy Dacey, SPA/MA 鈥95, executive director of the Sine Institute. 鈥淛uly has felt like a very long year. So much is happening in the political environment.鈥
The event was also the first official campus gathering attended by President Jon Alger, a national leader in the field of civic engagement in higher education, who joined 小蓝视频 on July 1. Alger was accompanied in the front row by his wife, Mary Ann. Trustee Jeff Sine, SIS/BA 鈥76, who, along with wife Samira, made the $10 million milestone gift to launch the institute, also attended the event, along with national and local reporters and more than 50 小蓝视频 community members. Another 300 people tuned in online.
Britt and Avila gave voice to the divided state of politics and the commonalities that matter most to a of 41 million Americans, aged 18鈥27, who are of the 2024 presidential election. Those shared concerns include college affordability, the economy, and affordable housing鈥攁ll of which were among the issues identified in the Sine Institute鈥檚 2023 survey of voters aged 18鈥34.
The pair also on protecting the environment, which Avila said will make it easier to develop creative solutions to address climate change.
鈥淕en Z as a whole is worried about what the environment is going to look like going forward,鈥 she said. 鈥淭his is a great place where we can come together as a generation to get more involved in politics and find solutions to get us out of the hole that we鈥檝e dug ourselves into.鈥
鈥淐limate change is something that we鈥檙e really concerned about as well as Gen Z Republicans,鈥 Britt added. 鈥淚 know that鈥檚 maybe a shift from some older-guard Republicans. We鈥檙e excited about the way free market solutions can address environmental problems.鈥 听
Avila and Britt said that continuing to have conversations with people with whom they disagree is just as important to democracy as voting and running for office.
鈥淚 can have my own beliefs, but if I encounter somebody that doesn鈥檛 agree with [me], then I should probably start to look into exactly why they believe what they believe and why they think what they think,鈥 Avila said. 鈥淐hallenging myself to do that in every single instance where I鈥檝e come across somebody who doesn鈥檛 agree with me has only made these conversations easier.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping after this event, maybe more people will be willing to have these conversations in a gracious and respectable manner.鈥
Watch the on the Sine Institute鈥檚 YouTube page.