The Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse was founded through the generous gift of Shelley E. Padnos and Carol Sarosik to help create more inclusive, tolerant, and peaceful communities. In 2011, they visited the Anne Frank House, a museum in Amsterdam that tells the very human story of a young Jewish girl living in captivity during the Holocaust. Bearing witness to the accounts of violence and fear documented in Anne Frank’s diary, Shelley and Carol said, “We knew we had to do something.” The cost of intolerance is high. People must find ways to live across difference. It is in this moment that they first conceived of this program.

Committed to promoting equity among people, across multiple identities, Shelley and Carol began brainstorming with the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies about ways to equip students with tools for creating a more tolerant and peaceful world. Civil discourse is one such tool, and the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse developed from there.

Today’s college students live in a complex, often contentious world. To help students learn how to handle the divisiveness of this historical moment, the Center for Civil Discourse provides curricular programming and campus/community events which promote the use of civil discourse. To create caring communities, we need to matter to each other.  Civil discourse is one way we can increase our capacity to hear one another; speak respectfully; and assess the complicated dynamics of dialogue.

The Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse aims to systematically enable Grand Valley State University students and area neighbors to develop the concepts, skills, and practices of bringing people with divergent views together for respectful dialogue and problem-solving through the sponsorship of:

• A rotating two-year endowed professorship appointment
• Two undergraduate courses that examine current social issues through the tools of civil discourse
• An annual community symposium that is associated with the theme of the course
• Campus and community events that provide students, staff, faculty, and community members with opportunities to practice the skills of civil discourse
• Individualized support for faculty and student leaders who seek guidance around facilitating difficult conversations

The Padnos/Sarosik Civil Discourse Faculty Fellowship program recognizes GVSU faculty (tenured, tenure-track, and affiliate) who show outstanding civil discourse, dialogue, and bridge-building commitments through their teaching, service, and scholarship.

Selected through a competitive application process, Faculty Fellows serve two-year terms as campus leaders of constructive and productive dialogue across difference.

*The Padnos/Sarosik Civil Discourse Faculty Fellowship was previously the Endowed Professorship program. Read about previous Endowed Professors and their work here