Frontdoors Magazine February 2020 Issue

NEXT DOORS {ahead of the curve}

PROMOTING CIVIL DISCOURSE IN A CYNICAL AGE Sandra Day O’Connor Institute sees opportunity in the clamor Tom Evans | Contributing Editor

We live in a time when it’s difficult to discuss our differences calmly and rationally. This fact has dominated recent news cycles, when black seems white, and white seems black, and there’s no other point on the spectrum.

Our country has faced moments like this before — to the point of civil war, even — but for anyone living today, the environment around public discourse may seem more fractured than ever. When we must debate what truth is and what truth even means, we’ve reached a new frontier; one that could lead in a number of directions, many of them bad.

So you might think that an organization founded to promote civil discourse and public engagement would find these challenging and frustrating times. But if you ask Sarah Suggs, president and CEO of the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute, she’ll give you a different opinion.

“Because of what I do, I have a sense of optimism,” she said. “It’s an interesting silver lining with what’s going on today with the divisiveness and lack of civility. Until something is missing, you don’t know what it’s like to live without it.”

FEBRUARY 2020 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 31