Last week’s launch of the Perspectives on the Civic Life Presidential Speaker Series offered a window into President Jon Alger’s vision for establishing American University as a national leader in civic engagement.

“This is an incredibly diverse institution with people from all over the nation and the globe [who have] different backgrounds, perspectives, and beliefs. That diversity is a strength. We all have much to contribute, and we all have much to learn,” Alger said.

“We don’t expect everyone to agree; this is, after all, a university. But how we engage with one another matters,” he continued. “AU can and must be a model of how to bring diverse people together to engage in civil discourse based on facts, evidence, research, and respect. We have a great opportunity here at AU to model what it means to be a community where diverse people come to live, learn, and work together.”

Alger’s opening remarks set the stage for his fireside chat with Eboo Patel, author, civic leader, and founder and president of Interfaith America, on September 18 at the Katzen Arts Center’s Abramson Family Recital Hall.

Patel said civic duty transcends anything that divides us as Americans, from race and religion to politics. “The civic is that space where people of divergent ideologies cooperate—Little League, hospitals, PTAs,” he said. “You cannot have a diverse democracy if every disagreement is going to cancel a relationship.

“I want you to imagine, for a second, all of the groups [in] the world who are in conflict are all on your Little League team,” said Patel, who served on President Barack Obama’s inaugural advisory council in the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. “That Little League team is America, and your job is to get them to play together. Because otherwise, we don’t have fire departments or paramedics or hospitals. You don’t have a nation if people who disagree on fundamental things refuse to work together.”

Guided by his book, We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy, which was given to attendees, Patel discussed how to develop relationships across differences—work the Civic Life will foster on AU’s campus.

Both Alger and Patel identified higher education as a space ripe for advancing this civic pluralism and being a model for diverse democracy across all forms of diversity. Patel and Interfaith America have worked with hundreds of universities to develop courses, programs, and campuswide plans to address challenges through interfaith cooperation.

Patel encouraged the audience to think about this work like a potluck—a gathering around food where everyone brings their own perspectives and culture to the communal table.

“For me, it’s the perfect metaphor for American civil society. Of course, it’s a play [on] the melting pot. We don’t want a melting pot,” Patel said. “I don’t want you to melt down your identity. I want you to bring your delicious dish.”

But that environment is only possible when individuals get involved and lead the effort.

“You’ve got to bring a dish to a space that’s comfortable, that’s conducive to creative combinations and enriching conversations, where people feel safe, where the dishes are clean, where somebody’s going to clean up afterward,” Patel said. “Everybody is responsible for that space. That’s the civic. We want to try your dish. We’re going to expect you to be a contributor and do everything we can to reduce the barriers to your contribution. Because if you can’t come, it makes the potluck less delicious.”

One way AU students can contribute is by applying for the forthcoming Student Civic Life Fellows Program. As part of the Civic Life initiative, it will offer undergraduate, graduate, and online students the opportunity to partner with faculty fellows “to build the infrastructure to help our community engage in these difficult conversations together.”

“Education is such an important concept, but we’re not here as a group of isolated individuals,” Alger said. “We are learning through relationships with one another.”

Watch a recording of the full event here and attend upcoming the Civic Life events.