Listening Tables

Columbia has been torn by deep divisions in the last year between vital political activism and the need for the University to continue its regular activities of research and learning while preventing protests from deteriorating into harassment of others. There are ongoing discussions on campus about what it means to have empathy for others—and their feelings when confronted with various actions, symbols, and words. People in our community think differently about how far to extend the principle that speech and conduct should avoid what is experienced by others as threatening and hurtful. While salutary, at a certain point, this principle can become an excuse for censoring uncomfortable but important speech. Discovering this point—or just understanding the myriad points of view and experiences among us—can only be done through face-to-face conversation. Listening is vital to conversation. It opens up a space where curiosity about another way of thinking can take the fore, where we can genuinely listen to each other’s point of view, and where discomfort can be explored safely. This is the goal of our new experimental initiative, Listening Tables.

A diverse group of Columbia leaders will shepherd this experimental project to set up Listening Tables—usually one or two at the start—in neutral areas around the Morningside campus for the use of Columbia faculty, students, and staff. These pilot Listening Tables are meant to generate connection and understanding as well as a reservoir of feedback and new ideas in these most difficult areas. We know this will not be easy. But we are hopeful that such a vision of true listening across significant differences can work. It will take us all working together and compromising. The University must always be a place where we can imagine something better than the world we find before us. In this, we believe Columbia has the capacity to be a model where even the hardest problems can be discussed, where minds can meet and people can grow, and where community can be co-created.