Every spring, DCI Fellows implement their own personal deliberation project on a topic of their choice. DCI Fellow Fatima Mukasa ’28 wanted to use her project to reach a wide group of people who may not know much about deliberation or the DCI. She called her project, Take an Opinion, Leave an Opinion, and it was inspired by the Tiktok page, “Read a Secret, Leave a Secret.”
Designed to foster open dialogue and critical thinking, the project invited students and faculty to anonymously share their perspectives on thought-provoking topics, which others then read and responded to. These responses were recorded and will be shared online, creating a broader platform for engagement. By encouraging open-mindedness and empathetic communication, the project aims to cultivate a space where diverse viewpoints can be expressed without stigma and aims to strengthen the Davidson community’s ability to navigate complex discussions with curiosity and respect.
She set up a table and camera near the flagpole outside Chambers, the main classroom building on campus, and asked students passing by in between classes to share their perspective on a topic by writing it down on a piece of paper and leaving it on the table. They could also pick up an opinion that was left by someone else and respond to it — on camera for 30-60 seconds. Fatima then compiled these recordings into a short video that we’ve shared below and will also be shared on social media for the broader community to view and engage with. Fatima’s hope is that her project will foster a space where people feel as though they can share their opinions and can engage with other viewpoints, allowing them to be more open-minded, more engaged, and more effective communicators.
The topics that Fatima chose were the same topics being discussed by the DCI’s D Teams, and she hosted her table a week or so after each set of D Team discussions were completed. She and other DCI Fellows included some opinions that D Team participants raised (without attribution) on the table for her visitors to respond to, creating a nice connection between these two DCI programs. Students who were on a D Team could also stop by and share their perspectives that might have come up during their discussions.
Check out Fatima’s three “Take an Opinion, Leave an Opinion” videos below — the topics are the opioid epidemic, lessons learned from COVID, and healthcare reform, the compilations feature the voices of numerous Davidson students…
The Opioid Epidemic: A DCI “Take an Opinion, Leave an Opinion” Video Compilation
Lessons Learned from COVID: A DCI “Take an Opinion, Leave an Opinion” Video Compilation
Healthcare Reform: A DCI “Take an Opinion, Leave an Opinion” Video Compilation
