Alumni from O'Connor Institute Ambassadors Share How the Program Impacted Them
Civility is the lifeblood of a democracy. Without civility – in Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s words, the ability to disagree without being disagreeable – a society and its people cannot truly understand one another. Without understanding one another, consensus cannot be formed. And without consensus, democracy grinds to a halt. In other words, a democracy that cannot be civil is a democracy that cannot function.
But how does one teach civility? How does one teach someone to understand another’s point of view?
The answer might lie in experience and exposure.
Molly Nealon is a freshman at the University of California – Davis and an alumnae of the O’Connor Institute Ambassadors Club. Like many other American students, during high school, she took classes in government and civics. However, even after these courses, Nealon was still left with a thirst for understanding.
“I took government in high school like everybody else,” Nealon said. “While it was a great course, I wish I got a deeper understanding of other perspectives.”
After taking these courses, Nealon began her search for better understanding. Through her search, she found the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute and the O’Connor Institute’s Ambassadors Civics & Debate Club developed for high school students.
“I love the O’Connor Institute because I have met so many really cool people, and [the Institute] has a lot of events that I try to hop into,” she said. “The debates that [the Ambassadors] had were my favorite.”
Through these events and debates, Nealon was able to experience perspectives beyond her own and was exposed to ideas that she had never considered herself.
“I’m grateful for the opportunities that [the Institute] provides our future voters - to be able to listen to the other side and learn what other people are experiencing,” she said. “It’s nice to hear how someone from New York or Montana or Wisconsin or the deep south think and digest a particular topic.”
It’s the same experiences that Trex Jones, a sophomore at George Washington University and alumni from the Ambassadors, sought to expose both himself and his peers to.
“I was one of the original people to help found [the Ambassadors],” Jones recalled. “I was in my freshman year of high school (2020), and I lost a lot of my plans for the summer for camps and programs of all different types that were going to help me get more civically engaged.”
Through an O’Connor Institute grant for the Ambassadors, Jones was able to host a civil discourse event that brought together speakers from both the left and the right of the political spectrum for a discussion about various issues civilly and respectfully.
“[The speakers] were engaging in a lighthearted debate and talking about political differences,” he said. “(They focused on) how to have those conversations in life without being angry with each other.”
Through the O’Connor Institute and the Ambassadors, Jones went on to help organize more events. One of his favorite memories from his time with the Ambassadors was a voting drive event to get members of his community registered to vote in 2022.
“I got to meet a lot of different people from my school and got a lot of different perspectives,” he said. “Some people did not want to register to vote because they didn’t trust the system. I learned a lot more about why people don’t trust our institutions.”
During his time with the Institute Ambassadors, Jones was able to explore ideas he and others had never considered or understood before, inadvertently teaching each other about the value of civility.
“It was a nice way to learn and start dipping my toes into the water of civics education and engagement,” Jones said.
Through the work of Jones and the Institute, the Ambassadors Club has welcomed more than 1,300 students nationwide to experiences like these, providing the next generation with different perspectives and opinions to instill the value of civility, inspired by Justice O’Connor’s lifelong example.