Newsroom Archive for 10/20, 2008
Oct 20 2008 - 12:49pm
An editorial in today's Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star praises the work of the Sorensen Institute to bring civility to politics.
CAN POLITICAL CIVILITY be taught? That's a question the Sorensen Institute, a donor-funded program at the University of Virginia, may be able to answer, given some time. The institute, established 15 years ago, was founded to "identify, educate, and train emerging leaders," according to its Web site...
Sixteen Sorensen alumni are in the Virginia General Assembly (two senators, 14 delegates), more than 100 have been elected to local office, and many more serve on boards and commissions around the commonwealth and the nation. Various programs at Sorensen are aimed at high school and college students, first-time candidates, and community leaders.
At the heart of each lie three areas of concentration: ethics in public service, the power of bipartisanship, and a concentrated study of public-policy issues. The institute is nonpartisan, takes no sides on issues, endorses no candidates, and gets involved in no mediation between political figures ...
The Sorensen Institute is working to change the political culture, to provide alternative methods of arguing policy and pursuing public office. Bravo to them. The rest is up to us.
