Students and faculty gathered on the Diag to speak to passersby about issues related to environmental policy on Tuesday as part of the Political Speech and the Public Square speaker series. The event is the first of four hosted by the Faculty Senate Office; Year of Democracy; Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement; the Michigan in Washington Program; and the Ginsberg Center. For the next three Tuesdays, similar events will be held on the Diag, each focusing on different political topics.
Pauline Jones, event co-coordinator and director of the MIW Program, said the event was organized to prompt members of the University of Michigan community to engage in constructive political conversation, in an interview with The Michigan Daily.
“We wanted to show that political speech and activism on the Diag are a normal, constructive, productive, and positive way of communication on campus,” Jones said. “We are trying to bring our community into conversation and give people a space where they can both hear views that they may disagree with and may make them uncomfortable but also express their own views.”
Jones said that the event is being held in hopes of raising awareness about the upcoming elections.
“This is also connected to the elections and wanting particularly students, but also staff, to be aware that this is an election year,” Jones said. “We’re just hoping that it will stimulate students to think about and ask and talk about the issues that matter to them when it comes to these elections.”
