The Center for Civic Life at Ashland University presents a public forum titled “Back to Work: Rebuilding the Economy” on March 15, 2021, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Hawkins Conard Student Center conference rooms. This forum seeks to discuss the impact of the Coronavirus on businesses and deliberate ways to help the local and national economy.

The Center for Civic Life at Ashland is an organization that seeks to provide students and members of the community with the opportunity to come together and deliberate on public issues with the intention of initiating change. 

The Center for Civic Life at AU was founded by Dr. Louise Fleming-Dufala in 2012 after a visitation to the Kettering Center in Dayton, Ohio. 

“Their mission is to promote deliberative democracy, which encourages people to get together with the idea of common ground”, Fleming said. “When we were approved back in 2012, I was so excited and I still am because I am absolutely sure that the future depends on deliberation.”

Deliberative democracy is a school of thought in political theory that believes that political decisions should be the outcome of open and reasonable discussion among citizens of a community.

“It is much different than a debate because a debate seeks to find a winner and a loser”, Fleming said. “Deliberative democracy allows the participants to explore values, look at the potential gains and losses of a particular action, and avoids polarization.”

The results of the deliberations are recorded by the moderators, who ensure everyone has a fair say in the deliberations, and are sent off to the National Issues Forums. The National Issues Forums then takes the results and presents them to policymakers in Washington D.C. 

Carolina Amparo, a freshman at AU, joined the Center for Civic Life halfway through the Fall 2020 semester because she was intrigued by the direct involvement in finding solutions to community issues. 

“It allows AU students the opportunity to make a direct difference on topics that have impacted them”, Amparo said.

For those that are interested in becoming moderators, there is moderator training which will take place on April 10, 2021, on the eighth floor of the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees will receive a packet of information, training, a free bagged lunch, and a chance to moderate a live deliberation.