“Whatever issue you care about, whatever your perspective, speak up and fight fiercely for what you believe in, but don’t shut people out who may see the world differently. Instead, embrace the pluralism around you and see what happens when you welcome others in with curiosity before judgment. Part of what I hope you’ve learned here is that you can work together to do something meaningful in the world, even when you disagree. Put differently, you don’t have to agree on everything in order to get something important done together, because we’re not going to reach a place where we can make things better without a genuine effort to recognize our shared humanity. And that is the best and perhaps the only way to build lasting change.”
See more from University of Wisconsin Commencement.
University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of seventy campuses participating in From Campus to Community a new national campaign to champion civil discourse and democratic engagement in this year’s commencement season. More from Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
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