Arizona university founds civility institute

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TUCSON, Arizona | Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:42pm EST

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - A university in Tucson is seeking to turn the shooting rampage that severely wounded U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords last month into a teachable moment with a new institute promoting civility in politics.

The University of Arizona on Monday inaugurated the National Institute for Civil Discourse, which is a nonpartisan center for debate, research, education and policy.

The center seeks to "advance the national conversation currently taking place about civility in political debate," the university said in a news release.

Gunman Jared Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire on a crowd outside a Tucson supermarket on Jan 8, killing six people and wounding 13 including Giffords, who was shot through the head and is recovering in a Texas hospital.

The rampage renewed a national debate over gun control in the United States and soul searching over whether the vitriolic tone of U.S. politics had encouraged violence against elected officials.

Although the motives for the attack remain unclear, the new institute's director, Brint Milward, said "it provided a window of opportunity that we could use."

"I think Arizona will prove to be a wonderful test bed for civil discourse," said Milward, who is the director of the university's School of Government and Public Policy and will head up the institute.

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are to serve as honorary chairs of the think-tank, which is to be funded largely by private donations.

(Reporting by Brad Poole; writing by Tim Gaynor; editing by David Bailey)
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Comments (7)
Massagat wrote:
Perhaps the institute should send some representatives immediately to Madison, Wisconsin to work with the many incivil protestors who are holding up signs comparing Governor Walker to Adolf Hitler

Feb 21, 2011 6:25pm EST  --  Report as abuse
drdsgolf wrote:
This sounds like a nice idea, but isn’t it kind of absurd to link hostile political discourse to this shooting rampage? Loughner is either a paranoid schizophrenic or a severe psychopath. Either way, the political discourse had nothing to do with his motivation. Bugs Bunny cartoons would be just as good a source for his violent rampage. Any attempt to link these two things is a fraud. Using it as a springboard for a civility institute is a specious way of trying to blame the murders on political hostility, and that is nonsense. If anyone thinks things are bad right now, you should go revisit the 60’s.

Feb 21, 2011 7:21pm EST  --  Report as abuse
GlobalWatcher47 wrote:
The institute will be useless. Perfect example is the numerous classes and emphasis on business ethics in higher education. What have those contributed to big business? Ethics in big business is still abominable. In order for civility to thrive in the political environment, money/greed has to be removed from the arena. Then and only then will politicians from the left, right, and the middle will work in a civil fashion.

Feb 21, 2011 8:16pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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