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Respectful Discourse Initiative
Charge
The President’s Initiative on Respectful Discourse establishes a framework to provide the UTSA community with the knowledge, tools and skills to engage in serious and productive exchanges of views. Integrating legal, cultural, political and philosophical issues tied to free speech, this initiative promotes graduating world-engaged civic leaders of tomorrow, and creating an institutional culture built upon respect for others.
This initiative will lead the campus to address discourse, whether written or spoken, as not only a matter of rights, but of responsibilities and values. Curricular integration, co-curricular programming, faculty and staff training and community outreach will better equip the UTSA community to:
- Undertake more thoughtful exchanges of viewpoints;
- Engage in more productive and appropriate debates;
- Focus on the issues rather than on the individuals supporting them;
- Support interpretations using verified information;
- Listen more thoughtfully to what others say;
- Seek sources of disagreement and points of common purpose;
- Embody open-mindedness and a willingness change minds;
- Assume a need to compromise and a willingness to do so;
- Treat the expressions and ideas of others with respect;
- Understand the legal aspects of free speech and their applications on the university campus;
- Avoid escalation to verbal, emotional or physical harm.
Status Update (Spring 2024)
UTSA’s Respectful Discourse initiative developed the framework to provide the UTSA community with the knowledge, tools and skills to engage in serious and productive exchanges of views. The Steering Committee, chaired by Dean Hendrix, vice provost of libraries and museums, achieved the following:
- Completed an inventory of initiatives, programs, and resources related to respectful discourses across colleges and units
- Launched task forces related to curricular integration, co-curricular programming, and faculty and staff training;
- UTSA’s Expressive Activities Response Team launched a new website and education series, including seminars for students such as Free Speech 101 and Free Speech vs. Hate Speech
- Select faculty, staff, student organizations, and advisors received additional training about expressive activities on campus. Student Activities aims to expand training and discussion opportunities this summer and beyond
- Roadrunners in Action and the Student Leadership Academy offered opportunities for students to learn about the tenets of free speech and civic discourse