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WBGU-PBS and BGSU are one of 11 community sites across the country selected to host "By The People 2007: Dialogues in Democracy."
Dr. Albert Dzur |
The public is invited to participate in a nonpartisan forum discussion on the future of higher education in Ohio from 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. Oct. 20 in 113 Olscamp Hall. A concurrent forum will be held at Kent State University in conjunction with WVIZ,
Cleveland. BGSU and Kent State were selected to host the timely discussion because they are home to the first state universities
(established in 1910) in two vital regions of northern Ohio, according to Dr. Albert Dzur, political science.
Dzur has been the coordinator of the event for BGSU along with other members of the Reflective Public Dialogue planning committee,
including Drs. Neocles Leontis, chemistry; Vivian Patraka, English and the director of the Institute for the Study of Culture
and Society; Katerina Ruedi Ray, director of the School of Art, and Carney Strange, leadership and policy studies. Their work
has been supported by the Center for Regional Development, a sponsor of the project.
“This forum is a terrific opportunity for people to come together, share experiences and knowledge, and hopefully make a constructive
impact on the larger public debate over changes in higher education,” Dzur said.
Background information will be presented to participants, who will take part in small-group discussions on the value and mission
of higher education in Ohio. In the afternoon, citizen deliberators will be joined by experts and policymakers in an electronically
linked discussion with Kent State. Lunch, snacks and a $20 gift certificate will be provided that day to participants, and
everyone (community members, faculty, staff and students) is welcome.
Registration begins at 8 a.m., followed by the first discussion session at 9. To register for the event, call 2-7270 or email
awdzur@bgsu.edu. For more information, go to wbgu.org/btp.
The discussions will culminate in a national town hall meeting at the historic House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg.
The meeting will convene for four days in November and will bring together a diverse group of influential Americans who will
listen to and weigh what citizens in the 11 communities said about the critical issues they have deliberated.
Recorded segments from the BGSU and Kent State events will be featured in a national PBS "By The People" broadcast anchored
by Jim Lehrer, tentatively scheduled to air in January. The PBS MacNeil-Lehrer Productions project is designed to reinforce
the need for civic engagement and remind citizens that the American experience is built on their shared ownership of the democratic
values of the founders.
This is the second time WBGU-PBS has been selected as a "By The People" project site. In 2005, it was chosen to convene citizen
deliberations on health care in Defiance, Findlay, Lima, Fremont and Bowling Green.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is partnering with "By The People" on the "Dialogues in Democracy" project to promote
greater public ownership and civic engagement with the critical issues of our times, rallied together under the theme "Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Ongoing project funding partners include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Rockefeller
Brothers Fund.
This year’s “By The People” deliberation will kick off “Renewing Public Trust for the Next 100 Years,” a nonpartisan dialogue
series on higher education taking place at Kent State and BGSU. The series, being planned by scholars and community leaders
at both universities, will give citizens the opportunity to reexamine issues related to the public purposes of higher education
in the 21st century.
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