The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy will bring a bipartisan group of New Hampshire’s youngest state representatives together on Dec. 1 for a frank and open conversation on the importance of civility in public life.
Josiah Bartlett Center President Andrew Cline will moderate a conversation among::
- Rep. Jessica Grill, Democrat of Manchester;
- Rep. Sam Farrington, Republican of Rochester;
- Rep. Jonah Wheeler, Democrat of Peterborough;
- Rep. James Thibault, Republican of Franklin.
“After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the need to lower the political temperature was obvious,” Cline said. “This bipartisan conversation will be the first of many we organize in our Civil Discourses event series to bring young Granite Staters together in constructive political disagreement. By design, our government forces us to share power with each other. It’s past time we relearned how to do that.”
The event will be at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Monday, Dec. 1. It starts with a reception at 6 p.m. ,followed by the program at 6:30.
This event relaunches the Bartlett Center’s Civil Discourses event series with a new focus on building relationships among young Granite Staters who hold differing political views. The need for such events has become increasingly evident in recent years.
The day before Charlie Kirk was killed, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression published a national campus survey showing that 71% of American college students think it’s OK to silence speakers by shouting them down, 54% think it’s OK to block other students from attending a campus speech, and 34% think it’s OK to use violence to stop a speech.
Confirming the dire state of civil discourse, a Politico poll released this week found that most Americans (55%) expect political violence in America to increase, and nearly a quarter (24%) say political violence is sometimes justified.
The significant percentage of Americans who believe political violence can be justified should be a call to action for everyone who cares about the health of the republic.
By joining together for an honest conversation about today’s political climate, these four young representatives are modeling a better way forward.
The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are available here or by clicking the image below.
