It's been interesting and somewhat depressing to watch the various televised town halls of both political parties over the past few months. As the clock ticks and voters' preferences begin to shape the race for the White House, there has been a correspondingly steep decrease in decorum as the gloves come off.
The low point perhaps in a laughable exchange occurred when Pope Francis suggested that it was "not Christian" to build walls when we should create bridges to permit the exchange of people and ideas. One candidate, the presumed Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, called the Pope's words "disgraceful." It appears that Mr. Trump took it personally.
For those of us who worry about the decline of civility in America, it's hard to know whether to respond to Mr. Trump as Jimmy Fallon would or Andy Rooney might have done. Saturday Night Live might make an even better setting, perhaps accounting for why several candidates have recently appeared on it. In the end, the Pope wins on debate points and the power of his logic, common sense, prior work experience, current job description, and reported connection to the powers that be.
This exchange masks an even larger concern for America. Has the American Republic begun to mirror the last stages of the Roman Empire with the drama and techniques of reality television shows infusing and demeaning what should be a critical debate about a common future? Have we become a civilization that craves both "bread and circus" much like the last days of financially- and morally-bankrupt Rome?
Is everything a competition now where winning is more important than truth?
This is a point in American history perhaps when its colleges and universities can make a lasting contribution to the health of the Republic. It may even be a seminal moment to demonstrate the inherent and lasting value of the liberal arts.
Let's be clear at the outset. A college campus is often a very uncivil place. Yet there's a lot that's right in college culture. On most campuses, attending college is an opportunity to form and debate an opinion without opponents debasing it as "disgraceful."
It's about the simplicity and earnestness of the Sanders campaign without fully fleshing out the reality of how ideology translates to action that can become law - or even how you pay for it. It's about young women trying to determine whether the experience of Hilary Clinton is a good fit for America and whether Ted Cruz represents where voters are trending.
A college campus is the first place where students can think reflectively about how to become productive citizens because the campus provides an environment to learn, grow, fail and try again.
At the base of most college experience is the much-maligned liberal arts.
The liberal arts teach students how to communicate, write, apply quantitative methods, use technology, and work in a collaborative setting. The best colleges and universities steeped in the liberal arts tradition also prepare their students as citizens.
It's a good basis upon which to develop more rational dialogue on the issues that this country faces.
If this political season demonstrates a precipitous drop in civility across America, perhaps its college and universities can step forward to offer one solution. Any effort must go well beyond student voter registration drives, narrow ideological battles between conservatives and liberals, and visits by political candidates. America's colleges and universities must model civility in public discourse.
They should start by becoming more active on issues -- many of them not narrowly political - that are likely to matter in 21st Century America. Its leadership -- especially presidents and provosts -- must have the appreciation and protection of their boards as they take up issues beyond the college gates. The process and structure will matter and entry into public discourse must not mean narrow support for a political party or candidate. Despite the recent dust up, for instance, Pope Francis seems to have mastered the art of how to get this done.
Other college stakeholders can also play a role no matter where they fit on a college campus. The key is to communicate passionately without being shrill or simply clever, armed with effective data and an inquisitive determination to be good while doing good. Most important perhaps -- and a lesson for the political candidates currently performing as gladiators under the big top in cable town meetings across America -- is that manners matter.
The university was once respected because it was the intellectual heart of modern society, shaping through its reflective faculty and inquisitive students constantly changing parameters that moved society forward. Today, however, universities are often on the defense questioned simplistically about why they can't hold down costs while criticized for building endowments to pay for these costs.
Polls suggest that American colleges and universities make the national political agenda because of their problems. It's time to regain the intellectual high ground that encouraged Americans to look to them for solutions.
It's a most civil suggestion.