Students walk past University Hall, home of Ohio State’s Center for Ethics and Human Values, on Feb. 7, 2026. Credit: Nadia Somerville | Lantern Reporter
Ohio State’s “Listen. Learn. Discuss.” initiative will host the inaugural Buckeye Day of Dialogue on Wednesday, bringing together students, faculty and staff for facilitated conversations to practice civil discourse.
The event, free of charge, runs from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Ohio Union Performance Hall and is open to all Buckeyes.
Ohio State President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., among other university leaders, will attend the event led by Aaron Yarmel, associate director of Ohio State’s Center for Ethics and Human Values.
“Dialogue promises genuine progress on the truly challenging questions that keep us up at night,” Yarmel said. “I believe that the best way to explore these questions is to discuss them with people whose values, experiences and skills differ from our own.”
The dialogue topics will not be predetermined, Yarmel said, but will be voted on during the event, ensuring the subjects of conversation are accessible and important to all attendees.
Yarmel said he created the event in collaboration with Amanda Wurst, university relations director, who contacted him to plan an event that would “celebrate and build upon OSU’s longstanding tradition of civil discourse.”
Wurst said that students can develop skills like interpersonal communication, negotiating and conflict resolution by practicing civil discourse to stand out to employers.
“These are lifelong skills that undergraduates can build and practice while at Ohio State, which is an advantage for our undergraduate students,” Wurst said.
Wurst said she wanted to model the event on real-world situations that require civil discourse skills, like meals.
“When you think about it, so many of our difficult conversations happen over meals — Thanksgiving is a typical example,” Wurst said. “We are going to give our community an opportunity to practice civil discourse in a real-world context, but with support.”
Wurst said she hopes every person leaves with insight on how they can better engage with people they disagree with.
Yarmel said that being open to all perspectives, even those you disagree with, is essential to the search for knowledge and mutual understanding.
“If we can treat one another’s perspectives and critiques as gifts to aid us in this search, rather than obstacles to be overcome, we can advance much farther than any of us can on our own,” Yarmel said.
The Buckeye Day of Dialogue is supported by the CEHV, the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, the College of Public Health, the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Student Life.
