WSU awards first Sam Reed professorship in civic education

OLYMPIA — On Thursday former Secretary of State Sam Reed helped announce the recipient of the first Sam Reed Distinguished Professorship in Civic Education and Public Civility.

A group of around 30 people gathered in current Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s office to watch to ceremony for Carolyn Long, an associate professor in political science at Washington State University Vancouver.

The professorship is awarded to faculty at WSU who apply and are chosen by a group that includes Reed, who is a WSU alumnus.

With this award, Long will receive $12,000 to continue her work in civic education. Long heads the Initiative for Public Deliberation (IPD). The goal of IPD is to moderate discussions with citizens and public officials in southwest Washington.

“What we’d like to do is have these forums on policy issues, have them moderated carefully in order to really enhance our vibrant democracy that emphasizes engagement, emphasizes civility and mutual respect,” said Long.

IPD held six civic forums in southwest Washington in 2015. Long trains students in one of her classes to be facilitators for these discussions. Participants in the forums are assigned to small groups, with a facilitator and note taker at each table.

The focus of these moderations was affordable housing, which was identified as a major policy concern of residents in the area in a survey by the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington.

Long said she hopes to continue this work and expand these forums across Washington. She hopes to use the funds from the award to reach out to communities and provide information about what she is trying to do.

She is also hoping that information from these forums can be published in journals or reports and then be used by lawmakers to help them in their decision making.

She said she wants to let elected officials to know the public has a more “nuanced perspective” than what they might hear at public hearings or meetings.

“That nuanced perspective, frankly, is about collaboration, it’s about respect, and it’s not about polarization and some of the rhetoric that we’re currently hearing,” she said.

The event was attended by former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, former Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court Gerry Alexander, former WSU President Sam Smith, as well as other state officials, family members, and friends.

In his opening remarks, Reed said he and Smith decided to establish the professorship in 2013 when Reed retired as secretary of state.

Smith, Reed, and former WSU football star Rueben Mayes, along with others, began fundraising for the professorship.

Reed decided to work with the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU.

“I insisted it be connected with the Foley center because that’s the center that reaches out to the population all around the state,” Reed said.

The director of the Foley Institute, Cornell Clayton, introduced Long and listed some of her professional accomplishments.

Some of Long’s awards include a Fulbright scholarship to the University of Ljubljana, a WSU president’s award for leadership and engagement, and the excellence in institutional service award from the WSU College of Arts and Sciences.

Reed said the intention is to give the award every three years, and former winners may re-apply. He also said the applicants do not have to be in political science departments, all WSU faculty received information about the professorship.

An advisory committee will meet in May to go to Vancouver and watch Long work. Long said forums are planned in the spring to discuss civility, education and race. Information about IPD can be found at foley.wsu.edu/research/ipd.

Follow Laura Guido’s reporting on Twitter, @CBHPolitics.