VMI Hosts Statewide Debate and Discourse Workshop

Virginia Military Institute’s Civil Discourse Initiative, in partnership with the national College Debates and Discourse Alliance (CD&D), an initiative of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), hosted a training workshop on how to incorporate intentional civil discourse on college campuses. Students, faculty, and staff from colleges and universities across the Commonwealth of Virginia were invited to attend the event held Sept. 4 in Marshall Hall.

Attendees of the workshop were taught that CD&D honors ideological diversity and fosters civil discourse. CD&D debates and dialogues are not competitive or performative events separating speakers and audiences. They are immersive and participatory, inviting everyone in the room to express themselves freely in a collective search for truth. Conducted in a light parliamentary format and chaired by trained experts, students are encouraged to express their views, frame persuasive arguments, listen deeply, and engage respectfully around challenging political and social issues. Workshop participants were taught strategies for building communities of practice, how to compose an engaging debate resolution that would attract a balanced two-sided discussion, and how to serve as a debate chair. They put what they learned into practice while engaging in a debate.  

Doug Sprei, co-founder/director of CD&D, assisted in leading the workshop. According to Sprei, CD&D has enjoyed a lasting and productive collaboration with VMI since 2021. “We’re so proud of our remarkable faculty partners at VMI. They have enabled VMI to become CD&D’s leading community of practice and a national model in integrating civil discourse into campus culture. From the onset, we’ve seen how VMI inspires and engages cadets and faculty, helping them develop crucial skills in cultivating dialogue around critical issues facing the campus, the local region, and our nation. The school has become an anchor for our work across Virginia. Our joint effort in launching this statewide training workshop brought several more institutions into our initiative. We look forward to helping them foster transformative debate and dialogue on their own campuses and carry the movement forward.”

Civil discourse and debates faculty fellow, Col. Sara Whipple, professor in the Department of Psychology, stated the vast majority of what is implemented in the program at VMI is a direct result of the training and techniques learned from CD&D. “Consequently, we were happy to collaborate with CD&D to provide interested faculty, staff, and students from across the state with an opportunity to learn how to incorporate civil discourse techniques into their classrooms and across their campuses. We were pleased to welcome so many eager participants who are invested in creating opportunities for dialogue, intellectual humility, and broader community engagement for their students. This workshop is a testament to both the community of practice we built here on post and to VMI’s regional leadership in this realm. We are grateful to the administration, faculty, staff, and students who have supported this work.”

VMI’s Civil Discourse Initiative includes cadets, faculty, and staff. It is sponsored by the Jackson-Hope Fund and holds multiple debates throughout the academic year. Information about the program and a schedule of upcoming events may be found here.