The 2024-2025 year at St. Andrew’s is branded with the theme of “Can We Talk?” Head of the Upper School Blake Ware has spearheaded this campaign with his Civil Discourse committee and a new no-phone policy. The committee’s official statement on civil discourse has been received with varying enthusiasm from teachers and students.

Senior Celia Lane would have liked the document to go further. “I think it fails to consider the fact that, unfortunately, some people’s opinions/approach to discussion is not to respect other people’s opinions,” Lane said. “So, how are we supposed to engage in civil discourse with them?”

Tenth-grade English Teacher Dr. Cullen Brown provides information about the document from a teacher’s perspective. “A lot of our professional development time this year is going to be spent working on this and talking about ways to implement this in the classroom,” Brown said. “It seems like many of us are on the same page about what civil discourse is and its importance to our community.”

Student Body President Mattie Ellis provides an answer to Lane’s questions. “The Student Council plans to host town hall meetings to discuss upcoming topics relevant to the election,” Ellis said. “That’s a big part of what Mr. Ware wants to do, and the student council is going to help assist that and talk to our peers about what topics they might want to discuss in these town halls.”

Lane also recognizes that this document provides controversial opinions with a platform. “There are some opinions that are more harmful than others that I do not think need to be given a space on campus,” Lane said. “A document is not going to stop bigoted people from being bigoted.”

Ellis has a more hopeful vision for this document and the “Can We Talk?” theme. “I think it’s great that Mr. Ware is leading the initiative for all of us to talk in a more civilized manner about these things,” Ellis said. “I think it’s good that the school is trying to do something to facilitate healthy, mature conversation.”