Rodin leads conference on incivility

Intellectuals gathered for the first meeting of the Penn Commission on Society, Culture and Community. Forty leading intellectuals -- including journalist Calvin Trillin, sociologist William Julius Wilson and U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) -- gathered at the Law School Monday and Tuesday for the inaugural meeting of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture and Community. The group, organized by University President Judith Rodin, was to examine the increasing "incivility and extremism" in politics and culture. Proceedings were closed to the public and the press. Director of Communication Ken Wildes said such confidentiality was necessary to allow participants to speak freely. The commission began the meeting by discussing the "widely shared" concern that public "discourse and behavior" has degenerated, according to Executive Director Steve Steinberg. "[People now] are more into shouting at each other than reasoning together," he said. Rodin's keynote address to the group was published in Tuesday's Almanac. "Across America ? social and political life seems dominated today by incivility, ideological extremism, an unwillingness to compromise and an intolerance for opposition," she said. Penn is the ideal location for such a conference because the commission's goals reflect the University's ideal of combining theory and practice, according to Steinberg. He added that a CD-ROM, essays, videos and seminars might emerge from the three-to-five year project, but stressed that few ideas were finalized at this point. Rodin and Steinberg conducted informal searches to select the 48 members on the commission, eight of whom were unable to attend the Monday and Tuesday's meetings. Steinberg explained that open-mindedness, an unusual background and excellence in a "pathbreaking" field were among the criteria used to select the commission's members. The University funded the conference and reimbursed participants' personal expenses with money from donors interested in the commission's work. Steinberg added that the commission plans to meet about twice a year. The group will increase access to the deliberations incrementally -- first to interested professionals and then to the public. The commission will complete a website by the end of January, he added. Other notable members of the commission are Annenberg School Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson; Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy; former Harvard President Derek Bok; Paul Begala, a former Clinton administration pollster; University of Chicago Ethics Professor Jean Bethke-Elshtain and Tereza Heinz, a philanthropist and widow to former U.S. Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.).