Padnos/Sarosik
Center for Civil Discourse
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Message from the DirectorThree Gates of Speech
Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates:
At the first gate, ask yourself, “Is it true?”
At the second gate ask, “Is it necessary?”
At the third gate ask, “Is it kind?”
~ Rumi
Dear Friends of the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse,
At Grand Valley, March is a season of giving, with March 21st being GVSU’s inaugural
Day of Giving. I personally believe that giving is a way of paying forward the gifts we
have received in our own lives. I share the quote above in this spirit, as a friend
introduced me to these Gates of Speech. I carry its sentiments with me and find it most
useful when my emotions are heightened in a conversation (such as when I am
frustrated, upset, or passionate about my position).
Giving is also about nourishment, support, and expressing one’s values. Gifts nourish
the people doing the work of the organization that one’s gift financially supports and
helps to sustain and advance the values of the organization’s mission and vision.
On this March 21 Day of Giving, I invite you to “pay it forward” by making a gift to the
Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse. Your support goes directly to student and
community programming and helps us to cultivate the values of our vision of inclusive
communities where multiple perspectives are welcomed, and every person is respected
and feels a sense of belonging.
By selecting the Padnos/Sarosik Center of Civil Discourse as the recipient of your gift
on this Day of Giving, you join our commitment to de-polarize conversations; create
cultures of dialogue; and foster collective connection.
I’ll end where I began, with sharing a gift that I received: The Three Gates of Speech.
This is what I offer to you today, in my effort to pay it forward during this time of giving. I
hope that you find meaning in the sentiments of this gift, and I thank you for pausing a
moment to consider paying your own gifts forward by donating to the Center.
Wishing you peace and wellness,
Lisa
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 | Trustees and staff engaging in dialogue during civil discourse training. Photo by: The Fremont Area Community Foundation
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The Fremont Area Community Foundation: Civil Discourse Training Testimonial
The Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse is excited to share that on February 15th, the Director of the Center, Lisa Perhamus, and the Endowed Professor of Civil Discourse, Greg Warsen traveled to Fremont, Michigan where they hosted a civil discourse training for the Fremont Area Community Foundation trustees and staff.
The Center offers personalized training and workshops that focus on dialogue across differences. The goal is to develop the concepts, skills, and practices of bringing people with divergent views together for respectful dialogue and problem-solving, Shelly Kasprzycki, President and CEO of The Fremont Area Community Foundation, reflected on the impact of February’s civil discourse training:
“Fremont Area Community Foundation trustees and staff were moved by the valuable training provided by Lisa and Greg on Civil Discourse. In fact, because of the training value, we are anticipating engaging in at least two-three more sessions to delve deeper into their techniques. We see this work as essential to philanthropy, and to the quality of life in our communities. I was particularly moved by the dialogue versus debate discussion, and the cues on body language and active listening. I’ve never had better civil discourse engagement training, and highly recommend it to colleagues, communities, and citizens concerned with an increasingly coarse society.”
We are inspired to continue engaging with communities as we strive to fulfill our mission to engage people in difficult yet necessary conversations to increase mutual understanding and deepen community.
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Board Member Spotlight: Dean Mark Schaub
In my lifetime I have experienced the “Big Sort” (as Bill Bishop names it in his eponymous book). My own day-to-day life, as well as my extended family, are more segmented from one another than they were decades ago. We have indeed sorted ourselves from one another in where we live, where we socialize, where (or if) we worship, and where we find online media or information. We’re not whole, and therefore we’re not well.
Civil discourse is not “there are two sides to every story.” It is not “I need to see the humanity in the person who denies my humanity.” Civil discourse is training ourselves and others to intentionally engage with others to learn and share perspectives on things that matter. The act of doing that is one of those things that matter.
*Schaub is an ex-officio board member for the Center and also holds the position of Dean of Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies.
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Story of Impact: Madison “MJ” Creutz
Meet MJ, alumna of GVSU, past advisory board member for the Center for Civil Discourse and current Assistant Director and Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Grand Valley. MJ stepped into the world of civil discourse in 2014 in her undergraduate studies when she registered for the very first civil discourse class, now titled IDS 350 Building Bridges Through Conversation.
MJ recently shared what civil discourse means to her, now that she has graduated and has come back to Grand Valley:
“Before taking the civil discourse course, I only knew what civil discourse was in practical terms; I didn’t yet understand that it was a tool and skill one could develop,” MJ said. “I was in my senior year of my undergrad, I was really coming into my own in terms of agency, autonomy, and excitement for graduation and the “real world.” I cared deeply about social justice and was looking towards developing skills and tools for activism and social change at that time. I realized that learning about civil discourse would benefit me in that way.”
MJ’s journey with civil discourse continued as she earned her Masters of Education in
Higher Education and Student Affairs and returned to GV as a professional.
“It was such a full circle experience to come back to the Center for Civil Discourse as a
board member. As a student in the inaugural class in 2014, I facilitated table conversations at the first Civil Discourse Symposium. That experience was an important challenge in practicing my skills in community,” MJ said. “Coming back as a professional, I felt so honored to contribute to the selection of new endowed professors and planning of the annual symposiums. I loved being in conversation with board members each month, brainstorming, challenging one another’s perspectives, creatinf opportunities for campus and community members to dialogue together at GVSU.”
MJ reflects on how civil discourse is a life skill that she integrates into her personal and
professional life.
“Learning the tools of civil discourse helps me exercise my natural curiosity around
learning about other people and how they think and operate within the world,” MJ said.
“The things I learned in the course about how to have generative dialogue with people is
foundational to how I build relationships in my work and my life still today. Because it’s a
semester-long class, I practiced the skills over that period of time, and they became
muscle memory. In an ever-polarized sociopolitical climate, those muscle memories for
de-escalating emotionally charged conversations still come in handy all the time.”
For example, she continued, “I have applied the skills I learned through reserving personal judgment of others, acknowledging the existence of my own implicit biases as they relate to power and privilege, honoring the dignity of another person and their experiences backnowledging that their lived experiences are different from my own and I can only benefit from sustained curiosity in conversation.”
In terms of civil discourse’s application to her professional life, MJ said, “My work by
nature is very emotionally heavy. Case management and response to folks who are
experiencing harm or have been alleged to have done harm requires a lot of conversation around topics of identity, oppression, and resolution. Whether I’m working with parties in a case, training campus partners who have mandatory reporting obligations, or consulting with colleagues on policy and procedure, conversation can be tense and tiring.”
As MJ wrapped up her conversation with us, she highlighted the value of the center’s
programming: “Every single department, division, unit, and individual office (at Grand
Valley) should have principles and training related to civil discourse. There are only
benefits to developing these skills.”
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| Attention Students! Focus on Leadership
Want to learn more about how to practice civil discourse? Register for IDS 150 and IDS 350 to learn skills and develop competencies that can help you in the classroom, in the workplace, and in everyday life.
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Story of Impact: Alumna Maddy Miller
Meet Maddy, an alumna of GVSU and of the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse.
Maddy Miller was the very first graduate assistant (GA) to work for the center. The civil discourse knowledge that Maddy gained through her work with the center continues to inform her work post-grad. She now serves as the Marketing and Media Specialist at Grand Valley’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. Maddy recently shared her reflections on what civil discourse means to her:
“Learning about civil discourse during my graduate assistantship helped me better
engage with peers and faculty in my program, especially on topics of belonging and
inclusivity within higher education,” Maddy said. “Being honest, I didn’t know anything
about civil discourse before joining the team – in fact I listened to a TED Talk on civil
discourse before my interview so that I would have a little context! During my year at the
center and then through participating in the Talking Together series, my understanding
of how important civil discourse is in our culture grew immensely. I have come to see it
as a way to better communicate with others on divisive topics and a way to better love
our neighbors.”
An integral part of the civil discourse team during her assistantship, Maddy describes
being especially inspired by her involvement with planning the 2022 annual civil
discourse symposium: Bridging Divides: Encouraging Dialogue with Radical Empathy.
“My favorite part was working on the civil discourse symposium,” Maddy said. “The year I was a GA, we brought in Terri Givens, and she spoke on bridging divides with radical empathy. It was an important topic and I felt privileged to get to be a part of putting that program together.”
Maddy now integrates what she learned through her graduate assistantship at the Center for Civil Discourse in her work at the Hauenstein Center, especially Hauenstein’s Common Ground Initiative.
“One of my favorite parts of our programming here at the Hauenstein Center is our
Common Ground Initiative (CGI), which helps foster conversations that bridge political
and ideological divides. The work of the PSCCD and our CGI is very closely related,
and I love seeing that common thread through the work I’ve gotten to promote through
marketing and media, starting with my graduate assistantship, then in this job,” Maddy
said.
Maddy still practices civil discourse today in her professional and personal life with the
skills she learned while working at the Center for Civil Discourse.
“I use civil discourse all the time! Differences in values and beliefs come up all the time
between me and my friends, colleagues, family members and just people I interact with
daily,” Maddy said. “To me, those conversations are critical to personal growth and self-
advocacy and using the teaching of civil discourse, there is a way to talk and interact in
a way that still shows love and respect to whoever you are interacting with.”
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Give to Make an Impact
Support learning journeys like MJ's and Maddy's by giving to the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse. Your gift supports programming for students' lifelong learning.
Click on the link to make your donation today!
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