RICHMOND, Va. β Richmond-native and New York Times bestselling novelist David Baldacci and his wife, along with VCU and the Library of Virginia, hope a $13 million donation to create the "Civil Discourse and Collaboration Initiative," will encouraging nonpartisan, civil dialogue across the political spectrum.
Baldacci says the complete polarization of the country over recent years prompted the donation, comparing current politics to "a years-long tailgate without the fun."
"Each side is hurling vitriol at the other side and saying that the other side wins it's going to be apocalypse. And then the election happens and they say, 'Okay, now move us forward as a country, but don't work with the other side.'," Baldacci said. "I'm not surprised, because as time goes on and people get polarized it's just sort of human nature to divide into different camps. But, that doesn't mean that situation has to be permanent."
The novelist believes most people want an alternative.
"In my heart, I don't believe that people want to mad all the time, you know. I believe that people actually want to discuss things peacefully and civilly and rationally," Baldacci said.
Baldacci has been discussing this initiative for over a year, wanting to get people more civically engaged and treating citizenship more seriously.
"It's not a free ride, it's not a free lunch, it's a job. If you approach it as a job, I think people will work harder at it," he said.
His ideal involves people getting off social media and having respectful conversations with others who may have different viewpoints.
"We may change their minds, they may change our minds, but have a conversation that's civil and peaceful, which is what we used to do, and politicians used to work together, and we can do it again," Baldacci said.
In a news release about the donation, VCU said the initiative will include "several key components:
- Experiential learning: The initiative will offer real-world experiences and simulations that focus on active listening and deliberative dialogue about timely public issues.
- Curriculum: Departments in the College of Humanities and Sciences, and other areas of VCU, will create a curriculum that takes advantage of resources and primary documents at local institutions like the Library of Virginia, incorporates civil discourse principles and helps students apply those principles directly to both their academic work and their roles in society.
- Forums and events: VCU and the Library of Virginia will host public lectures, moderated public forums and symposia about pressing societal issues to provide space for respectful exchange, empathetic listening and effective communication.
- Places to connect: The Library of Virginia will create 21st-century programming spaces and initiatives that promote productive models for collaboration and knowledge exchange, while utilizing its vast collections to share history through the original source materials produced by the Virginians who experienced it firsthand."
The Librarian of Virginia at LOV, Dennis Clark, emphasized libraries as nonpartisan spaces where difficult conversations have always occurred.
"It's this notion about thinking about the library as a public square, a place where these kinds of conversations can happen. So, we're going to be looking at, and are already looking at, creating kind of high-profile lecture series where difficult conversations can happen, where difficult topics can be discussed in civil ways, and using that as an opportunity for as a classroom of on democracy with VCU students and then beyond," said Clark.
"I think one of the things we know is that so much of the noise that happens about this side or that side is is about trying to leverage a social media moment or a particular viewpoint to make a point. It is not about listening or understanding," he added. "But I believe, as somebody who's worked in the public sector in libraries for for decades, that most of us, most Virginians, most Americans are really kind of trying to figure out what, what the balance point is, right...and I think that's where we want that engagement to happen. Not in trying to make political points on either side, but to have honest conversations and to have honest dialogue about what the issues really are and how we move forward together versus find our talking points and trying to beat each other up with this idea or that idea."
Baldacci warns that without change, the future remains uncertain.
"Because the rest of the world is not waiting for us to, you know, get our house in order. They are moving on," Baldacci said.
While specific details haven't been revealed, the Library of Virginia plans to launch their first speaker series this winter.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
