Graham Bullock

DCI and Town of Davidson Host Community Conversation about a Future Red Line Station

March 3, 2025 by Graham Bullock

Last week, DCI fellows Garratt Rothberg ’27 and Zak Abdulahi ’27 hosted an insightful Community Conversation on the Red Line station in Davidson. The Planning Director of the Town of Davidson, Jason Burdette, delivered an informative presentation on the project plan and its expected benefits to Davidson to a diverse group of students, college faculty, and community members. Then, participants shared their thoughts and questions through an interactive activity, which segued into an engaging deliberation about the benefits of public transit to the community. All in all, participants were excited to discuss their thoughts on the Red Line and walked out of the event with a deeper understanding of the project at hand.

A Campus Conversation about the Honor Code

March 1, 2025 by Graham Bullock

Academic integrity is a core value at Davidson College, shaping our community’s commitment to honesty, trust, and responsibility in scholarship. But what does a robust culture of academic integrity truly look like? How do we define it, how well does it align with Davidson’s current academic culture, and what steps—if any—should we take to strengthen it?

Join the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI), Honor Council, Student Government Association (SGA), and the Office of the Vice President of Student Life for a Campus Conversation on Academic Integrity on Thursday, March 27 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM in the Lilly Gallery. This event will complement and build on the Celebration of Honor earlier in the month and offers an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to come together in meaningful discussion about the role of academic integrity at Davidson.

The forum will begin with a brief update about Davidson’s honor code from the Honor Council, but the majority of the evening will be dedicated to roundtable discussions among students, faculty, and staff. Participants will consider:

What does academic integrity mean in practice?
What is Davidson’s current culture around academic integrity?
Should strengthening academic integrity be a priority, and if so, how?
How should we respond to challenges like cheating and plagiarism?

The conversation will be guided by a deliberation framework developed by DCI Senior Fellow and Co-Convener LJ Phillips ’25 and DCI Fellows Isabella Neri ’27 and Cavan Klein ’27, with support from DCI Faculty Director Graham Bullock. A deliberation guide will be shared with all participants in advance to provide background information and key discussion questions.

This forum is open only to Davidson students, faculty, and staff, and registration is required as dinner will be provided. Come be part of this important conversation and help shape the future of academic integrity at Davidson.

Shape the Future of Transportation: Davidson Red Line Station Design Planning Session

February 20, 2025 by Graham Bullock

Flyer for Red Line Station Conversation.

Imagine stepping onto a train in Davidson and arriving in Uptown Charlotte—no traffic, no parking stress, just a smooth, direct ride. That’s the vision behind the Red Line Commuter Rail, a long-planned 25-mile transit project connecting Charlotte with Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, and Mooresville. This major infrastructure investment could transform regional transportation, opening new opportunities for Davidson residents and students alike.

As the project gains momentum, community voices are more important than ever. Hopes about the project may be tempered by questions and concerns about its effects on traffic, parking, and neighboring communities. The current phase of the project is focused on identifying the best site for the station in Davidson, and several options have been identified.

Join us on February 26 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM for a Community Conversation on the Red Line Station in Davidson, co-hosted by the Town of Davidson and the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI). The event is being designed and organized by two DCI Fellows, Garratt Rothberg ’27 and Zak Abdulahi ’27, with support from one of the DCI’s Senior Fellows and Co-Conveners, Emre Guvenilir ’25.

This event offers a unique chance to:
🚆 Hear from the Town of Davidson about the latest station design options and project updates.
💬 Engage in small-group discussions guided by trained facilitators, where participants can share their hopes, concerns, and ideas.
✨ Consider the impact of the Red Line on mobility, economic development and community life in Davidson, and connections to Charlotte and other towns on the Red Line.

This conversation is designed to complement the Town’s previous detailed information sessions by offering a space for dialogue and reflection—especially for Davidson College students, faculty, staff, and community members eager to explore the project’s implications.

Everyone is welcome—whether you’re excited, skeptical, or simply curious about what the Red Line could mean for Davidson’s future. Come join the conversation and help shape the vision for our town’s transit future!

📍 Date & Time: Wednesday, February 26 | 7:00 – 8:30 PM
📍 Location: Davidson College Union, Sprinkle Room, Fourth Floor (in person)

Registration is not required, but if you sign up we’ll send you a Deliberation Guide that will provide you with some useful background about the project. We’ll also have donuts from Milkbread to enjoy during the conversation. We look forward to seeing you there!

War, Peace, and Ginkgo Trees: A Deliberative Forum on the Legacies of WWII in the Asia Pacific Region

February 20, 2025 by Graham Bullock

In the spring of 2024, eight ginkgo tree saplings were planted on the Davidson campus between the Library, the Wall Science Center, and Chambers. These saplings, descendants of trees that survived the US military’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima, were donated by Green Legacy Hiroshima to promote awareness about the dangers of warfare. While serving as powerful reminders of the devastation caused by nuclear weapons, the ginkgo trees’ symbolism has raised the concern that the project’s focus on the impacts on Japan risks overlooking the broader and more complex history of World War II in the Asia-Pacific.

People from different countries in the region have different historical perspectives on the war, which make drawing a universal lesson from their experiences difficult. The ginkgo trees, therefore, encourage us to discuss these questions: What should we say about the legacies of World War II in the Asia-Pacific region? How can we craft an interpretation that honors the universal suffering caused by war while respecting the diverse ways nations and individuals remember this history? By approaching these questions with openness and a commitment to historical nuance, we reflect not only on the past but also on our shared responsibility for shaping a more peaceful future.

Davidson College’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative invites you to join our Deliberative Forum on Wednesday, March 5th, where participants will first hear presentations from three speakers from Davidson College. Dr. Kristi Multhaup, Vail Professor of Psychology, will share the story of the ginkgo tree saplings and how they came to Davidson. Assistant Professor of History, Dr. Dáša Mortensen, will provide an overview of the history of World War II in the Asia-Pacific and its effects on the region. Dr. Keren Zhu, Assistant Professor of Political Science, will then examine how the war has shaped the collective memories of countries in the region and their relationships with each other today.

After the presentations, attendees at the forum will share their thoughts with each other about the legacies of WWII in the Asia Pacific. Facilitated by the DCI’s trained facilitators, these deliberations will generate ideas for signs and related interpretative materials that will be placed alongside the ginkgo trees on campus, representing the Davidson community’s reflections on the devastation of war and its aspirations for peace.

The event, which is co-hosted with the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, East Asian Studies, History, and Political Science Departments, will be both in person in the Lilly Gallery and online over Zoom on March 5 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Find out more about the event and sign up to attend the forum by March 2 at this link. We look forward to seeing you and hearing your thoughts at the event!

Registration is required as dinner will be served as part of the event (from Sabi!). Sign up today as seats are limited!

This event has been planned by a team of Davidson students and faculty, including Keya Zhou ’25, Luna Noguchi ’25, Flo Moser ’26, Romeo Norris ’27, Casey Scheiner ’28, Lily Ogawa ’28, and Dr. Graham Bullock…To learn more about this project, check out the Ginkgo Project overview document below.

DCI-Gingko-Tree-Project-Summary

The 2024-25 DCI Fellows Cohort

January 29, 2025 by Graham Bullock Leave a Comment

We’ve just uploaded photos and bios for all of our current 2024-25 DCI Fellows – 19 Davidson students who applied and were selected to participate in the Deliberative Citizenship Fellows Program. These students include first years through seniors, international students, and Division I athletes; they are majors in computer science, biology, political science, Russian studies, data science, educational studies, Latin American studies, physics, economics, communication studies, and more. They have all gone through the DCI’s intensive deliberation facilitation training program and continue to meet weekly throughout the academic school year.

They also complete the Collaborative Dialogue Institute’s Perspectives training program and read and discuss texts about deliberation and public discourse together. They facilitate the DCI’s D Teams and small group discussions at its Deliberative Forums, which they prepare for in advance by engaging in practice deliberations and debrief about them afterwards, sharing how the deliberations went and how they might improve in the future. In the spring semester, they also complete their own personal deliberation projects on topics of interest to them. After their first year as Fellows, they can continue to work with the DCI as Senior Fellows and Student Co-Conveners.

To learn more about the backgrounds of our current Fellows, check out this page with their bios and photos.