A Message from President Berger-Sweeney
December 6, 2023
Dear Trinity Community Members,
A tenet of a liberal arts education is that we allow voices to be heard through well-informed conversations and civil dialogues. By doing so, we can create further understanding about this undeniably complex time in history and make informed decisions about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Please join me for a special online community dialogue with professors Susannah Heschel ’73, H’10, chair of the Jewish Studies Program at Dartmouth College, and Tarek El-Ariss, chair of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Dartmouth, on Tuesday, December 12, at 12:30 p.m. (ET). Both have been in the news recently for the forum they jointly created at Dartmouth for students to discuss opposing positions, to raise the level of scholarship, and to encourage understanding about the complexity of the situation. To register, please RSVP here.
Susannah—a former Trinity trustee and the first female editor of the Tripod—also brings a sincere love for our community and recognizes the need for civil discourse in this country. Trinity Professor of History Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre, also a co-director of the Academy of Lifelong Learning, will moderate this discussion. I am deeply grateful for this unique opportunity for the entire Trinity community.
A core principle in the liberal arts is effective communication, speaking in ways that allow others to listen and listening in ways that allow others to speak. When we make room for well-informed dialogue and engagement, we empower our students to grow as 21st-century citizens who embody analytical thinking at their core. When we vehemently disagree with opposing beliefs or statements, we can still listen to conflicting viewpoints with empathy and form independent judgments without necessarily assuming a posture of outrage or disrespect. We will never bridge divides if we cannot start by listening to opposing views; those views should not result in hate or violence.
I hope you will take time to learn more and listen to another point of view and in return invite others to do the same.
Sincerely,
Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President and Trinity College Professor of Neuroscience
