By Jean Cleveland
A National Issues Forum on affirmative action will be held on Feb. 26 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
The two-and-one-half-hour program is set to begin at 7 p.m. in Room Q. The forum is open free to the public.
"National Issues Forums provide opportunities for citizens around the nation to gather and deliberate on the most challenging public issues of the day," says Susan Taylor, a public service representative at the Fanning Leadership Center who has helped UGA students arrange the event. "This topic could not be more timely, coming in the midst of a national debate and just after the defeat of an effort in the state legislature to ban affirmative action in Georgia, including UGA."
UGA Honors Program students from a variety of disciplines have started the forums as part of a Service Learning Grants program sponsored by the vice president for public service and outreach. One forum is being held each quarter this academic year with students selecting the topics to be discussed.
"Forums present each issue in a neutral, non-partisan way that encourages people to take a fresh look at the topic and at their own convictions," Taylor says. "Deliberative forums, at their best, help participants move toward shared, stable, well-informed public judgments about important public issues."
Three "choices" will be addressed: "People, not government, can ensure fairness," "Level the playing field, but don't fix the game," and "Finish the job we started." The goal is for the group to reach a shared public decision.
