Dialogue 2. Difficult Conversations, Honors Education, and the Public Sphere

Tara Williams, Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University

As educators, we are working within a highly polarized political context and an increasingly complicated global environment. The public is expressing decreasing confidence in the value of higher education, and alumni, donors, legislators, and others are looking closely at—and sometimes seeking to influence or regulate in new ways—what universities teach and how they operate.

Honors colleges and programs are often spaces where students have the preparation, support, and opportunities to discuss current issues in all of their nuance and complexity. At the same time, events, activities, and courses that take up such issues can become the focus of scrutiny in social or traditional media and/or the target of external groups. The visibility and reputation of Honors colleges may make us particularly likely to attract this kind of public attention.

This presentation draws from recent examples to open a conversation about how we can effectively prepare ourselves for these situations and navigate them as they unfold. What internal and external communications plans can we put in place in advance? What should we know now about our institution’s culture, media relations strategies, communications contacts, and resources for student, faculty, and staff safety and support? Where are the likely gaps between what institutions can provide and what faculty, staff, and students may need, and how can we best handle those? What principles can guide our decisions and actions as these situations arise and evolve? This session will offer pragmatic answers and proactive strategies for challenges that many Honors colleges and administrators are either facing now or likely to face in the future.