Katherine Twombly ‘30
Staff Writer
On Wednesday, September 16, the SPEECH Peer Educators group hosted their second dialogue dinner of the academic year titled: What are the promises and responsibilities of democracy? The theme of this dinner was chosen because it was occurring during Constitution Week, which this year also celebrated the United States’ 250th year.
This event started off with a panel discussion involving three current Seniors at the College of the Holy Cross who participated in the semester-long program in Washington, D.C. They discussed what they had learned during this experience, and specifically mentioned how physically being in Washington, D.C taught them that the government actually works differently than they expected and is heavily dramatized by the media, which further perpetuates the growing divisiveness of our country. The panelists also used this platform to talk about what they believe are the promises of a democracy, and they seemed to come to a consensus on the main principle of democracy being the necessity to adequately represent the general public.
While, as with any dialogue, even within table individual groups, there were disagreements over the specific ways to properly honor democratic ideals, representation of all citizens was the most prevalent idea of the evening. This aligned with the prompting question, but was also a valuable lesson to take from the event because it helped everyone there realize that even if we differ on how we believe the best way to accomplish this goal is, we are all supportive of the same general goal that is arguably at the basis of our country’s founding. This idea was further supported by SPEECH Peer Educator, Paige Ringuette, Class of 2029, who said, “By having these dinners, people can have face-to-face conversations with others they disagree with and see how similar we all are despite our differences.”
What made this dialogue dinner particularly notable was that there was a reporter and a photographer from The Boston Globe also in attendance. Having such esteemed individuals recognize the value of this event in fostering productive discourse in our school, and by extension, national culture helped everyone there better understand the significance behind what one may see as a more commonplace event and not take it for granted. In summary of the importance of these dinners and how they make our community unique, Paige also discussed the ways they can improve someone’s mindset and make them less combative in dialogue: “Not every discussion is a conversation to be won, and when people approach dialogue with the mindset of learning about others’ ideas while deepening their own understanding of their beliefs, everyone ends up leaving the conversation with something gained.”
There were numerous other events across campus to celebrate Constitution Week 2026, put on by a variety of different organizations. On Tuesday, September 15th, SPEECH also hosted an event called Donut Forget to Register to Vote in which students could stop by and check their voter registration for National Voter Registration Day. On Wednesday, in addition to the dialogue dinner, SPEECH also co-hosted, with hospitality, a pub night and music bingo in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The Reverend Michael C. McFarland S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics, and Culture also hosted an informative talk titled: Revolutionary America: Religion, Morality, and the Problem of Governance with Dr. Elliot Cramer. To close out the week, on Thursday, September 17th, the political science department and the Charles Carroll Program hosted distinguished Lecturer Chris Edelson, who presented: Making an American Monarch: Emergency Presidential Power, Constitutional Failure and Accountability. SPEECH also hosted a lecture with Dr. Scott Gac called Facing the Founding at 250: Hard Histories and the Unfinished Work of Justice.
Image from the Boston Globe
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