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A taste of Civili-Tea: Stubblefield Institute holds event to mark start of Year of Civility

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Sep 20, 2024

Shepherdstown Town Council member Marcy Bartlett hands a cup of iced tea to a football player in front of the Shepherd University Student Center on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Ashley Horst, director of the Bonnie & Bill Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications, could be found handing out cups of iced tea to passersby on Saturday afternoon in front of the Shepherd University Student Center.

Horst was participating in the institute’s first Civili-Tea, which was held at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year to announce the start of the Year of Civility.

“We’re raising awareness for the Year of Civility here at Shepherd. This is a partnership between the university, the Stubblefield Institute and the Corporation of Shepherdstown,” Horst said. “It’s really a collaboration to raise awareness for the need for civility in the election and beyond. We recognize this will be a contentious election and that we are a community before the election, we are a community during the election, and we will be a community after the election, so we need to be able to talk about our shared challenges, without yelling at each other and getting upset.”

Representatives from Shepherd University Lifelong Learning and the Shepherdstown Town Council could be found helping Horst hand out cups of tea, both prior to and following Shepherd University football game that day. The sweetened and unsweetened iced tea was donated by MJ’s on German DeliCafe, with the drink coolers donated for the day by Aramark.

For Councilmember Marcy Bartlett, spending a few hours at the Civili-Tea allowed her to interact with community members and college students who might not typically meet many civic leaders.

Town Council member Marcy Bartlett fills a cup full of sweet tea, for a college student to take to a friend after Shepherd University’s football game on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

“This is not just about the campus and the institute — the idea was to bring all of our townspeople together. This is just the first event for that, during the Year of Civility,” Bartlett said. “The subject of politics is already so polarizing. It’s not going to do us any good to become polarized further. Our intent is to be able to get people together and help them be able to say, ‘I understand your position, you understand my position.'”

Bartlett noted that she was particularly looking forward to the launch of Conversations on the Bench series, as part of the Year of Civility.

“The Conversations on the Bench series will feature people who know a lot about engaging in civil discourse. It will focus on topics such as, ‘How do I talk to someone with whom I disagree? ‘How do I go deeper in a conversation with people with whom I do agree? and ‘How do I talk across cultures and generations?'” Horst said, mentioning this fall’s portion of the series will be in short video form. “That will lead into a spring series, where two days a week, we’re going to have volunteers sitting on the benches in front of McMurran Hall, ready to have a conversation.”

A variety of other events, including voter registration drives, lectures and a senatorial debate, will be held over the next eight months.

“During the 2024-2025 school year, we invite everyone to celebrate civility, to deepen their awareness of civil discourse and to practice their civility and civil discourse skills,” Horst said. “Together, we can address polarizing issues, support one another as productive member of the community and choose to speak up and take appropriate actions.”

Football players from Slippery Rock University sip iced tea and chat with Stubblefield Institute director Ashley Horst and her children in front of the Shepherd University Student Center on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

To learn more about the Year of Civility, visit shepherd.edu/the-year-of-civility.

Stubblefield Institute director Ashley Horst hands a cup of iced tea to a football game attendee in front of the Shepherd University Student Center on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston