Coverage of the PEN America Campus for All workshops and retreat held in January 2024, co-hosted by Cromwell CTL.
“We reached out to PEN America, specifically, because we were impressed with their orientation toward campus free expression and inclusivity,” said Emily Steinmetz, co-director for Cromwell CTL. She said the workshop aimed to establish a shared understanding of academic freedom and to help all attendees identify their own unique roles in cultivating a campus culture that values everyone and enables engaging with diverse ideas.
“We have the tools and skills for addressing these issues and for better understanding our conflicts,” Meehan said. “They are thoroughly academic tools and skills, it turns out, things we are already good at doing: asking questions, thinking critically, reading thoughtfully, revising our views and assumptions, communicating effectively to multiple audiences. I think we can put these tools to work as we strengthen a more expressive, inclusive community here at Washington College.”
We will be continuing our relationship with PEN America in the coming year, developing next a day of workshops for students slated for Fall 2024.