The Hillary Rodham Clinton Center (HRCC) held its second annual summit, “We the People: Finding Common Purpose,” on Nov. 1, bringing together various speakers to discuss civil discourse, political engagement and the future of technology.

Alumnae, students and faculty gathered in Alumnae Hall at 10 a.m. to hear from a number of panelists — including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ’69. Although there was an event waitlist, the back portion and second floor of Alumnae Hall was empty, likely in part due to Wellesley’s Young Democratic Socialists of America encouraging students to register for but not attend the event.

Civil Discourse 

The summit began with an introduction from President Paula Johnson, followed by two conversations and three panels. In the first conversation, Clinton and renowned playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith discussed how to cultivate respect across differences and navigate civil discourse. 

Discussing the summit’s theme, Clinton said that Americans have “kept editing and adapting” the idea of “we, the people” to make it more inclusive, but now some individuals see that as a threat. 

“We worked, and we struggled, and we literally fought a civil war and we kept going until we could expand ‘we, the people’ to include all of us here today,” she said. 

Smith described the “I-Thou project,” drawing on Martin Buber’s philosophies to cultivate greater mutual understanding and respect among Americans. She said that Americans should focus on recognizing one another as humans, rather than as objects or an ‘it.’ 

“I have a choice when I look at you, Secretary Clinton, to see you as an ‘it’ or a ‘you,” Smith said. 

She added that places like Wellesley can be conducive to discussion across differences: “We’ve got to engage, and places like this are small enough and intimate enough to take some chances. Real leadership comes out of Wellesley College, and so this is the place to do the project.”

Smith called people to “come out of what I call our safe houses of identity” and be willing to confront uncomfortable situations to learn about others. 

In the following panel, “Building a Movement for Change and Racial Justice,” Pastor Troy Jackson spoke with Hahrie Han, director of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins, about putting Smith’s ideas into practice. Jackson co-founded UNDIVIDED, a six-week program that “takes race head-on, is rooted in Jesus, builds relationships across differences racially and ethnically and activates people … in some way that makes a difference in our communities.” 

Jackson explained that spaces like UNDIVIDED, where people can discuss challenging and sensitive topics, are crucial to address growing polarization. 

“We’ve got to create vehicles and opportunities [for political discourse] across differences that feel safe and where people are respected,” Jackson said.

Han echoed that while some people feel removed from politics, UNDIVIDED offers “an alternative way of engaging in public life that [is] grounded not in spectacle, but in actual practice.”

Political Engagement

In a panel entitled “The Scholar and Democracy: Evidence-Based Approaches for Building Resilience,” Wellesley professors discussed how to put civil discourse and academic research into collective action.

Chipo Dendere, an assistant professor of Africana Studies, discussed the real-life implications of her research on voter exit in Zimbabwe. She explained that when citizens stop participating in democratic institutions — via actions like voting — democracy dies, giving rise to autocracy. 

She further spoke about the impulse to leave the United States due to growing political turmoil.

 “I know that it can feel like you should leave because you can … but the stakes are so high for American democracy because democracy is delicate,” Dendere said. “If we, the people, are not there, then we, the people, cannot enact democracy.”

Kellie Carter Jackson, the Michael and Denise Kellen ’68 associate professor of Africana studies, added that “we, the people” must be a collective across differences. 

“We have to do this together; we have to build coalitions,” she said. “It is an all-hands-on-deck approach.” 

Carter Jackson explained that to encourage civic action and build coalitions, information must be “as widely accessible as possible.” 

She said that although the threats that academics receive can be “terrifying,” their work is more important than ever. 

“People are very cautious about what they do, and I understand the caution, but at the same time, I feel like, as Toni Morrison said, we have work to do. This is the time when scholars and artists and writers go to work,” Carter Jackson said.
Jennifer Chudy, an assistant professor of political science, then spoke about her research on racial activism in white communities and why beliefs in racial equality do not always result in impactful action.

 “[White people] don’t see outlets for doing this. They don’t feel [like they are] in community with other folks who share these views,” Chudy said.

Speaking on ways to draw the connection from belief to action, Chudy emphasized the role that institutions play in communities.

“Institutions also carry the capacity for community and network building … you have, sometimes, these white people that feel isolated. They don’t know other white people feel that way.”

During the final panel, “Coming Together to Fight Discrimination,” two Arkansas state senators, Democrat Senator Breanne Davis and Republican Senator Jamie Scott, discussed how they bridge divides by passing bills together. 

“[Senator Davis] is a dear friend who I love working with across the aisle,” said Senator Scott. 

Davis said that it is valuable to have camaraderie across the aisle with colleagues like Scott. 

“We try to always find things to work on to improve the lives of our constituents, and so I’m grateful for her friendship and people across the aisles who help me carry the light.”

The Future of Technology

In addition to discussing strategies for collaboration, numerous panelists addressed how social media can be divisive and often discourages cooperation. They also emphasized its influence on constituents’ voting decisions and the subsequent impact on the lawmaking process. 

Technology companies and social media platforms, Clinton said, have an important role to play in protecting democracy and preventing misinformation and disinformation.

“When you’ve got the seven biggest stocks on the stock market all being tech companies that are powering the information that we receive, they no longer should be held totally free of any responsibility for the information that they are giving,” Clinton said.

She also emphasized social media’s inflammatory nature. 

“They know things about you that they then use to target information to you. It might start off as something innocent. And then the next thing you know, you’re down a rabbit hole and Hillary Clinton is torturing cats … it leads to these dark places in order to manipulate you,” Clinton said.

U.S. Representative Emily Randall ’08 echoed the idea of social media’s pervasive nature. 

C-SPAN, or Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is a network that provides live coverage of the House of Representatives. Randall feels the potential for C-SPAN clips to go viral on social media causes Representatives to behave inauthentically, decreasing the chance for real lawmaking discussions between members of different parties.

“I came in feeling unable to learn alongside a colleague across the aisle because we’re all just there to perform. It’s in the elevator that I have the best conversations with some Republican members,” she said. 

Pastor Troy Jackson also commented on social media being used as a tool for division, recounting how, following the death of Charlie Kirk, evangelical churches faced online and community pressure to “choose if they were a pro-Charlie Kirk or anti-Charlie Kirk church.” He added that it is “much harder” to build an authentic community “in the performative world of social media.”

Ismar Volic, professor of mathematics at Wellesley, had a different take on the role of technology in politics, especially regarding the modern tools available to mathematicians that can be applied to political issues.

 “It’s an amazing time for research, not only because the moment calls for it, but because we are able to bring in classical mathematics in new ways, complemented by data that we have and statistical techniques,” he said.

Using evidence as a means of counteracting misinformation, Chudy still believes that finding truth is possible. 

“If your north star is evidence, you can move through the noise and see the truth,” Chudy said. 

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Lyanne Wang and Galeta Sandercock