An Antidote to Polarization

In the aftermath of one of our most divisive elections, we must remember that democracies are grounded in shared purpose and common cause—and that ideological disagreement is part of the process. Though divergent views can lead to polarization, we must reject that path along with the narratives that paint us as hopelessly divided.

As Dame Louise Richardson has argued, polarization is a mindset that assumes those we disagree with are “nefarious or bad in some way, [and] that’s deeply unhealthy to our democracy.” For Richardson, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, polarization calls to mind the famous line from W. B. Yeats: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

Where can we find a better way? Richardson, the first woman to lead Oxford University, looks to higher education and the “brilliant young people” around whom she has spent her life. I agree. Our colleges and universities are full of passionate students who want to change the world—and who give us reason for hope.

But as we learned this past year, hope isn’t enough. We hear from students across the ideological spectrum that they don’t feel they can engage with each other, which runs contrary to the mission of higher education. We owe it to our students to help them learn the thinking and reasoning skills—and acquire the knowledge and information—that will allow them to move past the assumptions and small-mindedness that keep us apart.

This is why it’s incumbent upon college campuses to provide what I see as a powerful antidote to polarization: pluralism, and the dialogue and diversity of ideas that come with it. This is crucial if higher education is to continue to produce engaged citizens and leaders who can work across difference.

Because Wellesley is committed to creating a community that supports diverse ideas and vigorous but civil dialogue, this fall we launched the Pluralism Initiative, an exciting addition to the College funded by a generous gift from a member of the class of 2001.

The initiative aims to provide an open forum for all students, faculty, and staff to encounter and grapple with a true diversity of ideas. It will be led by faculty, independent of the Office of the Provost, and will invite to campus thinkers whose research challenges the orthodoxy of liberal, conservative, and centrist positions alike to engage in dialogue with our community. The initiative will also host a roundtable series featuring scholars who study a range of complex issues, from the Middle East, to the benefits of questioning one’s own certitude, to the limits of scientific inquiry. In addition, it will support Wellesley’s membership in the Scholars at Risk network, which protects international scholars who face threats and prompts academic freedom. Liza Oliver, associate professor of art, is the initiative’s inaugural director and will head a faculty advisory board.

The Pluralism Initiative is part of our ongoing effort to teach students how to move beyond the habits and circumstances that lead to a polarized world. For example, this August our Civic Action Lab (part of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center for Citizenship, Leadership, and Democracy) brought together more than 140 sophomores to learn about and practice working across difference.

And we have you—a global network of alumnae, 35,000 strong, who model for our students the value of diverse perspectives, robust dialogue, and civic engagement.

Together, we must commit to repairing all that has fallen apart and to helping our students build a center that will hold, knit together by their openness to ideas and their willingness to see each other as partners, not adversaries, in a great endeavor.