“The People, the President, and the Constitution,” July 22 Civil Dialogues Event at the Kansas City Public Library

RSVP HERE

In 2024, Jean Becker, George H.W. Bush’s post-presidential chief-of-staff, and award-winning journalist Linda Lorelle co-founded the Civil Dialogues project with the idea that creating a forum for respectful conversations about difficult topics, often the topics that divide us, might help knit the nation back together and encourage greater political participation.

As part of this initiative, the Kinder Institute will partner with the Kansas City Public Library on July 22 for a panel discussion on “The People, the President, and the Constitution,” looking at the present state of the nation, how it speaks to the need for more Americans to engage in our democracy, and what future steps might be taken to move us forward as a country. Joining Becker and Lorelle on the panel will be Kathy Kiely, MU School or Journalism Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies, and Kinder Institute Director Jay Sexton.

The event will be held in the Helzburg Auditorium at the KCPL Central Branch (14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, 64105), with a reception starting at 5:30, followed by the panel discussion at 6:00. You can read more about the event and the Civil Dialogues project here, and anyone interested in attending can register using the RSVP link at the top of this post.